DUTCH REFORMED

CALVINISM

In 1533 Jean Cauvin (John Calvin, 1509 - 1564), an argumentative student of theology and law at Paris, fled for his life, eventually ending up in Geneva. His weltanschauung was influenced by much of the theological ferment then current in Europe at that time, including Lutheranism and Anabaptism.
Two basic themes that he developed were Biblical authority as opposed to Church authority in matters of the faith, and praedestinationism.

Two major ethno-denominational groupings eventually formed that were based on Calvin's thought: Scotch Presbyterianism, and Dutch Reform.
The less said about Scotch Presbyterianism the better - those people never had to fight a super-power for freedom for their faith, and in consequence have a self-satisfied priggishness wich is quite unstomachable.



DUTCH REFORMED

At the same time as Calvin was contemplating his navel in Switzerland, Netherlandish cities and nobles were getting steamed over Philip the Spaniard's attempts to unify the Netherlands into one coherent legal and administrative system.

The Netherlands which Philip had inherited were a loosely unified mess of conflicting law codes and civic privileges, sporadically called to order by a grand meeting of the States General in Brussels. While all territories were represented in the States General, not all played along with its decisions, and even fewer had any intention of doing so in any consistent manner. Other than in name, their unity lay in resisting Philip and disagreeing with each other.

The situation exploded in 1567 when Philip sent the Duke of Alva (may his name be erased!) into the Netherlands to eradicate dissent and destroy heresy. In 1568 Alva had two of the grande seigneurs of the Netherlands (counts Egmont and Hoorne), executed in the Grande Place in Brussels.
Their crime was not disloyalty or treason, but that they had been too permissive of religious dissidence, even though they themselves had remained Catholic.

The executions may have been pointless. But they did serve as tinder.

For the next four years, Alva savagely suppressed all dissent, political and religious, throughout the Netherlands, painting a swath of blood and murder across all the provinces. The tide turned in 1572 when the Sea Beggars captured Briel in 1572, gaining a foothold along the coast. Within the next few years the rebellion gained strength and territory, eventually unifying all of the northern provinces. Protestants, who faced certain death in the south, fled north in large numbers, and contributed their skills and their lives to the cause of the rebel republic .

The war between Spain and the Dutch lasted until 1648, by which time Protestantism, in it's rather severe Dutch Calvinist form, had become entrenched in the north. Thenceforth Netherlandish quarrelsomeness would have the perfect medium in which to manifest itself - religion.
[Not until twentieth century politics would another so perfect vehicle for petty dispute and despicion come along (and how the Dutch enthusiastically jumped on that bandwagon is another story).]

Among the first actions that the Calvinists theocrats took was the banning of Catholicism in Protestant cities (and permitting Judaism).
Thereafter they started fighting among themselves.

Not only in the Netherlands.



DUTCH CALVINISTS IN AMERICA

The first Dutch Reformed church in the new world was established in New Amsterdam in 1628, and the first church was built in 1633 on what is now Pearl Street in Manhattan. The Brits eventually seized the property for military purposes, and a new church was built in 1693 on Exchange Place. By the end of the century Dutch Reformed congregations had arisen all over New York and New Jersey, including areas which are now Hareidi strongholds such as Brooklyn, Flatbush, Hempstead, Monsey, Paramus, etcetera. By 1792 the Dutch American churches split off from the Dutch churches, at which time they already consisted of various splinter groups on both sides of the Atlantic.



MY CHURCH, HIS CHURCH, AND THE ONE NEITHER OF US WOULD BE CAUGHT DEAD VISITING

In 1816 Dutch government meddling created even more splinter groups, all disunited in opposition to the official approved Dutch Reformed denomination. In 1822 more seceders split off from the Reformed Church in America to form the True Dutch Reformed Church, while in 1834 dissidents left the Reformed Church in the Netherlands to form two new denominations, the Christelijk Afgescheiden Kerk (Christian Separatist Church - CAK) and the Gereformeerde Kerk onder het kruis (Reformed Church under the cross, aka the Cross Churches).

It gets worse.

In 1841 pastor Ledeboer and his group in the Netherlands set up shop separately, along with others (forming the Ledeboerian faction). A number of these people headed for the U.S. in 1846 under the leadership of Pastor Albert Van Raalte, becoming the second group of people to immigrate to North America to get away from religious freedom (the Puritans having been the first). They established the settlement of Holland, Michigan (gosh what an imaginative name for a settlement of Dutchmen!). By 1850 they had more or less united with the Reformed Church in America.

Shortly thereafter, a group of dissenters split off from the Second Reformed Church (in Grand Rapids) and the Fourth Reformed Church (in Pella) to form the Christian Reformed Church. The True Dutch Reformed Church joined with the Christian Reformed Church in 1890, forming their own classis within the movement - Classis Hackensack. In 1908 most of Hackensack withdrew from the Christian Reformed Church in a dispute over the faithful joining civic lodges or fraternal organizations.

Second Christian Reformed is actually a term for split-offs from the Fourth Christian Reformed church (Pella), which itself is a split-off variant of Dutch Reformed.
Second Christian Reformed should not be confused with Third Christian Reformed or First Christian Reformed, even though most Christian Reformed Churches adhere to the same source documents: The Apostle's Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dort.

Many Christian Reformed Churches in America, when they still worshipped in Dutch (in some places up until the nineteen-seventies or eighties!) still held to the Psalter of Petrus Datheen (1531 - 1588), though some "Reformed" Churches held instead to the Psalter of Marnix Van St. Aldegonde (Philip van Marnix, lord of St. Aldegonde, 1538 - 1598), and a few sick deviants had long since switched to either the first or second Statenberijming ("State's Rhyme" - the official version of the psalter), which dates from governmental meddling in church affairs starting in 1816 under William I.

In the Netherlands, several of the congregations of the Christelijk Afgescheiden Kerk and the Cross Churches combined to form another denomination - the Christelijk Gereformeerde Kerk (Christian Reformed Church, but not the same as the Christian Reformed Church in the American Midwest).
In 1886 Doctor Abraham Kuyper and his followers split off from the official Dutch Reformed Church to unite with Christelijk Gereformeerde Kerk.

The Ledeboerian churches in the Netherlands joined with the remaining Cross Churches in 1907, forming a denomination which called itself the Gereformeerde Gemeenten (Reformed Congregations).
The remaining Ledeboerians in America had meanwhile formed the Netherlands Reformed Church in Michigan in 1877.



RECENT HAIRSPLITTING

In 1924, Reverend Herman Hoeksema of the Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids refused to agree to the teaching of the doctrines of common grace and presumptive regeneration, and left the church with most of his own congregation, plus a congregation in Kalamazoo, and other dissidents. In 1926 they organized the Protestant Reformed Churches. Their unity lasted less than thirty years, nearly half of the members splitting off in 1954 to form the Orthodox Protestant Reformed Churches - which joined up with the Christian Reformed Church in 1961.

During WWII a new denomination arose: Gereformeerde Kerk Nederland - Vrijgemaakt (Reformed Church Netherlands - disassociated). By the nineteen fifties, this new denomination was also present in the U.S. and Canada.

A group seceded from the Gereformeerde Gemeenten (Reformed Congregations) over a doctrinal point that is totally incomprehensible, and became the Gereformeerde Gemeenten in Nederland (Reformed Congregations in the Netherlands). Their American branch is called the Reformed Congregations in North America.


Naturally, the recent mega-merger in the Netherlands of the Nederlandsch Hervormde Kerk, the Gereformeerde Kerk Nederland, and the Dutch Lutheran Church has of course resulted in even more break-aways.


The end is not in sight. Dissidence is a sign of health.

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FURTHER NOTES

1. If at this point you are reminded of that scene in Life of Brian where they discuss the differences between the People's Front of Judea, and the Judean People's Front, that is perfectly appropriate. They are SPLITTERS, and it is entirely unknown whether they support your RIGHT to have children even if you are biologically incapable of it.

2. Decades ago I ceased believing that the Messiah already came, and I am skeptical that he will ever come. I await his first coming, even though he may tarry.
No, I don't particularly feel like dealing with 608 more commandments. Why do you ask?


================================================

This description was originally the appendix to this post:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2009/08/i-despise-protestants.html

It seemed like it might be useful to park it here as a separate piece.

THE HOLY HANDGRENADE OF ANTIOCH

From the Book of Armaments:

"And St. Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying: Oh Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, for with it thou mayest blow thine enemies to tiny pieces, in thy mercy."


"And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs, and the sloths, and the carp, and the anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats, and large....."


"And the Lord spake, saying: first shalt thou take out thy holy pin. Then, shalt thou count to three; no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, no'er count thou two, excepting that thou then proceedeth to three. Five is right out...."


"Once the number three, being the third number of thy count, be reached, then lobbest thou the holy hand grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who being not goodly in my sight, shall snuff it."


This concludeth the lesson.

BRIEF AAN EEN VRIEND OVER ISRAEL EN DE PERS

Beste Rene,


Dat van mediamanipulatie, spin control, en zelfs lukraak grotesque onwaarheden, geld ook meer dan zeer zeker voor de pro-Palestijnsche kant. Zoals men hier van JVP, BAWIB, Students for Justice in Palestine, en International ANSWER vrijwel konstant tegenkomt.

Daar in Nederland is dat natuurlijk dat 'ander geluid', Anja Meulenbelt en meute, ANP, en NOS. In Engeland oa BBC en The Guardian.

De perceptie hier is dat de Israelische regering de media oorlog behoorlijk slecht dan wel vrijwel niet speelt. Daarentegen, de Arabieren blijken wel degelijk academici en editorialisten aan hun zijde te hebben gekregen. Daarin spelen natuurlijk een bepaalde pinda boer, een Zuid-Afrikaansche bisschop, en diverse ander PC godheden een rol.

De kreet "the Jews are killing CHILDREN" werkt veel beter dan die kreet over 'innocent Jews', daar men het als normaal beschouwt dat Joden vermoord worden (oh, ja, dat zit diep in het onbewuste van het Westen - vandaar dat Nederlanders altijd over de bezetting spreken alsof er nooit collaborateurs waren - hoeveel kaaskoppen waren er ook al weer aan het oostfront?).

Goed voorbeeld van grotesquerie: het neerschieten van een zwarte man op een metro station tijdens oud-nieuw hier in de Bay Area word uitgelegd door velen als zijnde een Joods dan wel Mossad complot, dan wel verband houdend met de "bezetting" van Gaza en de "holocaust" der Palestijnen.
Niet vermeld: absoluut geen aantoonbaar verband, en indien er wereklijk een holocaust tegen de Palestijnen gaande is, is het meer dan wonderbaarlijk dat A) de bevolking van Gaza met bijna veertig procent gestegen is in de afgelopen acht jaar; B) waarom er niet meer dooie Palestijnen zijn, zelfs die Palestijnen meegerekend die door hun eigen mensen vermoord of omvergereden worden; C) hoe het komt dat Israel sedert 1967 ziekenhuizen en universiteiten voor Arabieren in de gewonnen gebieden bouwde; D) wat het verschil is tussen de meer dan zes miljoen dode Arabieren gesneuveld in oorlogen tussen Arabieren, en de minder dan enkele tienduizenden Palestijnen die gesneuveld zijn (inkluus zelfmoord bomaanslagers) in de zestig-jaar lange haat-strijd tegen die verdoende Joden.

Ge zult welzeker Jenin kunnen herinneren - wat de Nederlandsche en internationale pers toen de wereld deed geloven was dat een slachting was, honderden dan wel duizenden vermoorde burgers, waarvan het merendeel KINDEREN waren. Blijkt dus 56 Palestijnen te zijn geweest, waarvan het merendeel strijders.

Muhammad el Doura? Dat zou ik ook maar eens weer onderzoeken - de Franse pers blijkt niet geheel eerlijk en doorzichtig te zijn geweest. En links Europa toetert de leugen nog steeds na.

Kijk, het punt is dat er aan bijderzij behoorlijk wat loos is. Maar indien ge de pers en de pro-Palestijnsche kant hoort, is er slechts EEN schuldige: De Eeuwige Jood.
Wat mij behoorlijk irriteert is dat men van pro-Israelsche zijde zowel nuance als begrip verwacht, maar wat de Palestijnen betreft voor alles begrip heeft, en alles nuanceert.

Men ziet te vaak over het hoofd dat er aan weerszij geheel sekulieren de pineut zijn. Dat het overgrote merendeel der Israelies absoluut niet godsdienstig zijn, dat het merendeel der Palestijnen in generwijze politiek actief.

Als er een oorlog gaande is, vallen spetters altijd onder de burgerbevolking. Dat Israel door zure ervaring beter is in het beveiligen van hun eigen, moet in geen wijze verwijt zijn.
Dat meer dan 20% van de Israelies niet-Joden zijn (Muslims, Kristenen, Druze, en anderen), maar de Palestijnen een geheel Judenreine territorium eisen, is wat mij betreft wel degelijk verwijtelijk - ge kunt raden waar ik die verwijt kaats.

Dat de Europeesche pers zo verdomd verrot is, doordrenkt met eenzijdigheid, onfeitelijkheden, en bigotrie.....
Tsja. Het lijkt wel of er aan die kant van de Atlantiek een anti-Foxnews leeft.

Ik weet onderhand echt niet wat erger is. Of het crypto-Stalinisme van beroeps-leugenaars in de Europeesche pers, of het nauwelijks verscholen anti-Semitisme dat eeuwenlang Europeesch kultureel erfgoed is geweest.

Met groeten,


---XXX

DUTCH NEWS BIAS: DISTORTION FROM NOS

During operation Cast Lead, the Dutch state-sponsored news organization, in the persons of reporter Sander van Hoorn and his editors, made sure that Dutch viewers did not get impartial and independent news, but instead watched reportage that would fuel hatred of Israel.

To achieve that, they engaged in a pattern of omission, distortion and manipulation.

A précis in English detailing what they did can be found here:
http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/02/israels-gaza-war-in-dutch-state-funded.html

The Dutch original is here: http://www.israelfacts.eu/03c1989ac60b34213/03c1989af207bce14/index.html#03c1989bb4009a304

This probably explains why Dutch anti-Semitism has gone through the roof in the past two months. It was always bad, now it is horrendous.

TIKVAH: VICTIM OF DOUBLE STANDARD AT U.C.

MESSAGE FROM THE ZIONIST STUDENTS AT U.C. BERKELEY
Reproduced here as a courtesy. This blogger both sympathizes with them and admires their courageous stand, especially in the face of apathy and hatred - anti-Semitism is endemic among the university population in Berkeley, and virtually institutionalized.



Tikvah: victim of double standard at U.C.
By John E. Moghtader & Elodie Resseguie


Long a hotbed of anti-Israel activity, U.C. Berkeley has barely had a strong pro-Israel presence on campus. Until now, with Tikvah: Students for Israel, the Zionist student group at U.C. Berkeley.

We are the group that stepped up to protest when academics John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt visited Cal in October 2007 to hawk their book, a nefarious smear job titled "The Jewish Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy."

We were also there last month when the virulently anti-Israel academic Norman Finkelstein came to speak.

Before the lecture, we respectfully distributed our literature outside. Once inside, Finkelstein’s level of anti-Semitic vitriol prompted a walkout of Tikvah students and others not associated with our group. We shouted out our opinions while exiting, as the crowd hurled expletives at us. Finkelstein and his colleague then continued delivering their insulting lies.

As a result, the dean of students is now seeking to discipline Tikvah and individual students for an "offense" which in the past barely warranted mention when undertaken by student groups involved in anti-Israel activities.

For example, when Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes tried to speak on campus several years ago, he was shouted down by members of Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim Student Association. At the time the chancellor said, "Uncivil behavior, lamentable as it is, is not a crime, nor is it a violation of the Code of Student Conduct." No disciplinary action was taken against SJP or its members for that incident, nor when Nonie Darwish was likewise shouted down a year ago.

Only last week, SJP disrupted an innovative Zionist hip-hop concert on campus. Even though no Jewish students were involved in the physical altercation that ensued (contrary to what was reported in the school paper and what SJP claims), we wait to see how the university will deal with the assailants from SJP.

Other violations by SJP of the U.C. code of conduct — such as blocking of pedestrian traffic with demonstrations, the brandishing of fake firearms, physical harassment and intimidation of Jewish students — were presented to the dean of students but have been ignored.

What we see here is a double standard, one for the rest of campus and another for the Jews and those who actively support Israel.

Our tax dollars support the U.C. system, and Jewish donors are very prominent in supporting the U.C. campuses. It’s time for the Jewish community to become aware of what is happening at our university.

Meanwhile, Tikvah has a consistent record of positive, pro-Israel programming on campus. Until our inception a year ago, there was no substantive pro-Israel voice on campus. We changed that, attracting students of various religious and cultural backgrounds to our cause. We have collaborated with many off-campus groups, including the Israeli Consulate, Israel Peace Initiative, S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council, U.C. Berkeley Chabad, CAMERA, StandWithUs, JIMENA and more. Once again Jews walk with pride across Sproul Plaza.

We have also sponsored many successful events. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we took out ads in the student newspaper highlighting the civil rights leader’s strong support of the Jewish state. We have hosted lectures by Dennis Prager, Stanley Urman, Israeli Vice Consul Ishmael Khaldi (who spoke about being the highest-ranking Muslim in the Israeli foreign service) and others.

Last year we held two weeklong programs brimming with pro-Israel activities: Israel Peace and Diversity Week and Israel@60 Week (which included a widely attended on-campus Holocaust memorial on Yom HaShoah). We just finished our latest effort, Israel Liberation Week, and we have also been a positive influence on student government, with John Moghtader, a current senator in the Associated Students of the University of California, leading our group.

Regarding the Jewish Student Union and Berkeley Hillel, we must clarify misstatements that ran in j. Even though Tikvah is the largest and most active Jewish student group on campus, we have been allocated precisely zero dollars from the JSU this school year.

While the JSU and Berkeley Hillel remain silent, we are the ones on Sproul Plaza and around campus protesting the Finkelsteins of the world, educating students about Israel, organizing rallies and holding Holocaust memorials.

We were dumbfounded to find that Hillel is presuming to play some role in all this, as Tikvah has never been affiliated with Berkeley Hillel, nor have we ever received funds from them for any of our activities.

We are a grassroots student group. Our goal is to make sure Jewish students do not have to be subjected to a hostile anti-Israel, anti-Semitic environment on campus. That’s our bottom line.



John E. Moghtader, a third-year undergraduate at U.C. Berkeley, is an Associated Students of the University of California senator and president of Tikvah.
Elodie Resseguie is a fourth-year undergraduate at U.C. Berkeley and is on the Tikvah executive board. To learn more about Tikvah, e-mail tikvahsfi@gmail.com or visit tikvahsfi.blogspot.com.
HaTikvah.


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NOTE: The text above has also been posted on my main blog, and at Jameel's blog. Please disseminate widely.
Aaron and Suzy, if you read this, please post "Tikvah: victim of double standard at U.C. " on you blogs also, and forward.
Thank you.

DUTCH NATIONAL ANTHEM

The Dutch National Anthem is one of the longer anthems - a total of fifteen stanzas, the first letter of each forming an acrostic. It is probably the oldest anthem in the world, though as it was not officially adopted as national anthem until the years of Queen Wilhelmina.
[Prior to that it had been the song of the Orangist faction.]


The full version is below (normally only the first and sixth stanza are sung.....).


WILHELMUS VAN NASSAUE


First Stanza:

Wilhelmus van Nassaue
Ben ick van Dietschen bloet,
Den Vaderlant getrouwe
Blyf ick tot in den doet:
Een Prince van Oraengien
Ben ick vrij onverveert,
Den Coninck van Hispaengien
Heb ick altijt gheeert.


Second stanza:

In Godes vrees te leven
Heb ick altyt betracht,
Daerom ben ick verdreven
Om Landt om Luyd ghebracht:
Maer God sal mij regeren
Als een goet Instrument,
Dat ick zal wederkeeren
In mijnen Regiment.


Third stanza:

Lydt u myn Ondersaten
Die oprecht zyn van aert,
Godt sal u niet verlaten
Al zijt ghy nu beswaert:
Die vroom begheert te leven
Bidt Godt nacht ende dach,
Dat hy my cracht wil gheven
Dat ick u helpen mach.


Fourth stanza:

Lyf en goet al te samen
Heb ick u niet verschoont,
Mijn broeders hooch van Namen
Hebbent u oock vertoont:
Graef Adolff is ghebleven
In Vriesland in den slaech,
Syn Siel int ewich Leven
Verwacht den jongsten dach.


Fifth stanza:

Edel en hooch gheboren
Van Keyserlicken Stam:
Een Vorst des Rijcks vercoren
Als een vroom Christen man,
Voor Godes woort ghepreesen
Heb ick vrij onversaecht,
Als een helt sonder vreesen
Mijn edel bloet ghewaecht.


Sixth stanza:

Mijn Schilt ende betrouwen
Sijt ghy, o Godt mijn Heer,
Op u soo wil ick bouwen
Verlaet mij nimmermeer:
Dat ick doch vroom mach blijven
V dienaer taller stondt,
Die Tyranny verdrijven,
Die my mijn hert doorwondt.


Seventh stanza:

Van al die my beswaren,
End mijn Vervolghers zijn,
Mijn Godt wilt doch bewaren
Den trouwen dienaer dijn:
Dat sy my niet verrasschen
In haren boosen moet,
Haer handen niet en wasschen
In mijn onschuldich bloet.


Eighth stanza:

Als David moeste vluchten
Voor Saul den Tyran:
Soo heb ick moeten suchten
Met menich Edelman:
Maer Godt heeft hem verheven
Verlost uit alder noot,
Een Coninckrijk ghegheven
In Israel seer groot.


Ninth stanza:

Na tsuer sal ick ontfanghen
Van Godt mijn Heer dat soet,
Daer na so doet verlanghen
Mijn Vorstelick ghemoet:
Dat is dat ick mach sterven
Met eeren in dat Velt,
Een eewich Rijck verwerven
Als een ghetrouwe Helt.


Tenth stanza:

Niet doet my meer erbarmen
In mijnen wederspoet,
Dan dat men siet verarmen
Des Conincks Landen goet,
Dat van de Spaengiaerts crencken
O Edel Neerlandt soet,
Als ick daer aen ghedencke
Mijn Edel hert dat bloet.


Eleventh stanza:

Als een Prins op gheseten
Met mijner heyres cracht,
Van den tyran vermeten
Heb ick den slach verwacht,
Die by Maestricht begraven
Bevreesden mijn ghewelt,
Mijn ruyters sach men draven.
Seer moedich door dat Velt.


Twelfth stanza:

Soo het den wille des Heeren
Op die tyt had gheweest,
Had ick gheern willen keeren
Van v dit swear tempeest:
Maer de Heer van hier boven
Die alle dinck regeert.
Diemen altijd moet loven
En heeftet niet begheert.


Thirteenth stanza:

Seer Prinslick was ghedreven
Mijn Princelick ghemoet,
Stantvastich is ghebleven
Mijn hert in teghenspoet,
Den Heer heb ick ghebeden
Van mijnes herten gront,
Dat hy mijn saeck wil reden,
Mijn onschult doen bekant.


Fourteenth stanza:

Oorlof mijn arme Schapen
Die zijt in grooten noyt,
U Herder sal niet slapen
Al zijt ghy nu verstroyt:
Tot Godt wilt u begheven,
Syn heylsaem woort neemt aen,
Als vrome Christen leven,
Tsal hier haest zijn ghedaen.


Fifteenth stanza:

Voor Godt wil ick belijden
End zijner grooter macht,
Dat ick tot gheenen tijden
Den Coninck heb veracht:
Dan dat ick Godt den Heere
Der hoochster maiesteyt,
Heb moeten obedieren,
Inder gherechticheyt.


It is laden with religious imagery and terminology. Parts of it resemble an oath. I shan't bother translating - great poems become bad prose when shifted from their original language, and the original language of this anthem is quite different from modern Dutch - you would not notice the antique flavour, and the fragrance of past glory would have faded.


Two versions on Youtube:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6xhRN5zz4g
The national anthem of The Netherlands played by all bands at the Netherlands Militairy Tattoo 2006.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG1SvPR5tyo
Straightforward musical version.

Personally I believe it should be played and sung faster than it normally is. It sounds plechtig (solemn, lugubrious) and statig (slow and funereal), but I would prefer rousing and spirited.

ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM FACTS

[Note: Originally posted Monday, July 24, 2006. Parked here for reference.]


The following talking points were forwarded by a friend. Please feel free to copy and forward to as many of your friends and associates as you wish - in fact, I strongly encourage you to do so.


ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM FACTS

1. ISRAEL BECAME A STATE IN 1312 B.C., TWO MILLENNIA BEFORE THE BIRTH OF ISLAM;

2. ARAB REFUGEES FROM ISRAEL BEGAN CALLING THEMSELVES "PALESTINIANS" IN 1967, TWO DECADES AFTER (MODERN) ISRAELI STATEHOOD (THE TERM PALESTINIAN DURING THE MANDATE REFERRED TO ZIONISTS);

3. AFTER CONQUERING THE LAND IN 1272 B.C.E., JEWS RULED IT FOR A THOUSAND YEARS AND MAINTAINED A CONTINUOUS PRESENCE THERE FOR 3,300 YEARS;

4. THE ONLY ARAB RULE FOLLOWING CONQUEST IN 633 B.C. LASTED JUST 22 YEARS;

5. FOR OVER 3,300 YEARS, JERUSALEM WAS THE JEWISH CAPITAL. IT WAS NEVER THE CAPITAL OF ANY ARAB OR MUSLIM ENTITY. EVEN UNDER JORDANIAN RULE, (EAST) JERUSALEM WAS NOT MADE THE CAPITAL, AND NO ARAB LEADER CAME TO VISIT IT (EXCEPT FOR KING ABDALLAH, WHO WAS ASSASSINATED BY HIS OWN PEOPLE ON JULY 20, 1951, ON THE STEPS OF EL AQSA MOSQUE;

6. JERUSALEM IS MENTIONED OVER 700 TIMES IN THE BIBLE, BUT NOT ONCE IS IT MENTIONED IN THE QUR'AN;

7. KING DAVID FOUNDED JERUSALEM; MOHAMMED NEVER SET FOOT IN IT;

8. JEWS PRAY FACING JERUSALEM; MUSLIMS FACE MECCA. IF THEY ARE BETWEEN THE TWO CITIES, MUSLIMS PRAY FACING MECCA, WITH THEIR BACKS TO JERUSALEM;

9. IN 1948, ARAB LEADERS URGED THEIR PEOPLE TO LEAVE, PROMISING TO CLEANSE THE LAND OF JEWISH PRESENCE. 68% OF THEM FLED WITHOUT EVER SETTING EYES ON AN ISRAELI SOLDIER;

10. VIRTUALLY THE ENTIRE JEWISH POPULATION OF MUSLIM COUNTRIES HAD TO FLEE AS THE RESULT OF VIOLENCE AND POGROMS;

11. SOME 630,000 ARABS LEFT ISRAEL IN 1948, WHILE CLOSE TO A MILLION JEWS WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THE MUSLIM COUNTRIES;

12. IN SPITE OF THE VAST TERRITORIES AT THEIR DISPOSAL, ARAB REFUGEES WERE DELIBERATELY PREVENTED FROM ASSIMILATING INTO THEIR HOST COUNTRIES. OF 100 MILLION REFUGEES FOLLOWING WORLD WAR 2, THEY ARE THE ONLY GROUP TO HAVE NEVER INTEGRATED WITH THEIR CORELIGIONISTS. MOST OF THE JEWISH REFUGEES FROM EUROPE AND ARAB LANDS WERE SETTLED IN ISRAEL, A COUNTRY NO LARGER THAN NEW JERSEY;

13. THERE ARE 22 MUSLIM COUNTRIES, NOT COUNTING PALESTINE. THERE IS ONLY ONE JEWISH STATE. ARABS STARTED ALL FIVE WARS AGAINST ISRAEL, AND LOST EVERY ONE OF THEM;

14. FATAH AND HAMAS CONSTITUTIONS STILL CALL FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL. ISRAEL CEDED MOST OF THE WEST BANK AND ALL OF GAZA TO THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY, AND EVEN PROVIDED IT WITH ARMS;

15. DURING THE JORDANIAN OCCUPATION, JEWISH HOLY SITES WERE VANDALIZED AND WERE OFF LIMITS TO JEWS (THE JORDANIANS USED THE WALL AS A URINAL AND SYNAGOGUES AS STABLES). UNDER ISRAELI RULE, ALL MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN HOLY SITES ARE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL FAITHS;

16. OUT OF 175 UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS UP TO 1990, 97 WERE AGAINST ISRAEL; OUT OF 690 GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTIONS, 429 WERE AGAINST ISRAEL;

17. THE U.N. WAS SILENT WHEN THE JORDANIANS DESTROYED 58 SYNAGOGUES IN THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM. IT REMAINED SILENT WHILE JORDAN SYSTEMATICALLY DESECRATED THE ANCIENT JEWISH CEMETERY ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, AND IT REMAINED SILENT WHEN JORDAN ENFORCED APARTHEID LAWS PREVENTING JEWS FROM ACCESSING THE TEMPLE MOUNT AND WESTERN WALL.

18. ARAB CITIZENS OF ISRAEL HAVE THE VOTE, AND ARE REPRESENTED IN THE KNESSET. ONE OUT OF FIVE ISRAELI CITIZENS IS AN ARAB.

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Among the comments underneath the orignial post, Jason wrote:

Here are some more on the current situation (courtesy of the Dallas CRC):


Background

Israel evacuated Lebanon in May 2000 – a move recognized by the United Nations. The Israeli withdrawal was conducted in coordination with the UN, and, according to the UN, constituted Israeli fulfillment of its obligations under Security Council Resolution 425 (1978).

The Lebanese government is obligated under UN Security Council Resolution 1559 to deploy its army along the southern border, disarm Hezbollah and maintain order; however, despite repeated complaints from the United States, the UN and Israel, this has not taken place.

On July 12, Hezbollah terrorists fired rockets from southern Lebanon into Israel killing three Israeli soldiers and they also crossed the border to kidnap two soldiers, Udi Goldwasser, 31 and Eldad Regev, 26. Four more Israeli soldiers were killed when their tank apparently drove over a land mine. Hezbollah, which is a party in the Lebanese government, also fired rockets into Northern Israeli towns, including Shlomi, resulting in injury to civilians.

Israeli defense measures in Lebanon are not against the people of Lebanon and Israel has no intention of maintaining a long term presence inside of Lebanon. The Israeli operations are intended to expel Hezbollah from the country, thereby empowering a free and democratic Lebanon, a safe Israel and a more peaceful region.


Hezbollah

Syria and Iran give Hezbollah “State Capabilities.” Iran supplies weapons to Hezbollah and no other terror organization has these types of missiles.

Before September 11, 2001, Hezbollah was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist group.

Hezbollah was responsible for the 1983 bombings of the US Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, brutally murdering 241 United States service men and women. The survivors and victims of this attack sued the government of Iran for their leading role in the attack and won.


Israel’s Military Response

Israel’s goals are to prevent Hezbollah missiles from reaching Israel, gain the return of the Israeli soldiers (no conditions will be made for their release) and the enforcement of Security Council Resolution 1559, calling on Lebanon to fulfill its sovereign duties to dismantle all terror organizations. Israel wants Lebanon to have complete control of their territory and will try to encourage this as much as possible.

Israel is targeting southern Lebanon to destroy the Hezbollah infrastructure. These are limited raids, not full-scale invasions.

Israel attacked the airport in Beirut, causing light damage by hitting runways-not the control tower or the terminals-in order to hinder the possibility of them using air transportation. On land, Israel has targeted strategic bridges to Syria in order to prevent supplies sent from Syria and Iran from getting to Hezbollah. In fact, last week (7/18) Israel hit one convoy coming from Syria to Lebanon.

Israeli operations have destroyed an estimated 50 percent of Hezbollah’s arsenal.

Israeli military operations are coordinated with the utmost precision, in an attempt to protect innocent lives. Israel targets Hezbollah by hitting specified targets. Israel is working to protect Lebanese infrastructure, such as water, electricity and fuel refinement factories.

The IDF has expanded its pinpoint operations in southern Lebanon with tanks and infantry, looking for Hezbollah terrorists, bases and weapons with the sole goal of clearing the area, and pushing back Hezbollah forces so they cannot get within rocket range of Israel.


Israel’s Humanitarian Response

The loss of innocent civilian life on both sides of this conflict is a tragedy. Israel is taking extreme care to reduce the risk to the Lebanese civilian population. The IDF drops leaflets urging residents in specific locations in southern Lebanon to avoid certain Hezbollah installations, and to evacuate their houses and relocate in northern Lebanon or Syria for the time being in order to avoid civilian causalities.

Israel has enabled foreign governments to evacuate their own citizens from Lebanon.

Israel has blockaded Lebanon via the sea, land and air to prevent Syrian weapons from entering Lebanon, but Israel is allowing humanitarian aid organizations to enter and assess the situation of the Lebanese civilian population. The Lebanese people are not Israel’s enemies and it has no intention of seeing a humanitarian disaster in Lebanon.

Israel has been in contact with foreign governments, with the United Nations agencies and with relevant NGOs to try to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

On July 20 Israeli Prime Minister Olmert, Defense Minister Peretz and Foreign Minister Livni approved the establishment of a "humanitarian corridor" between Lebanon and Cyprus.


Israel’s Principles of a Diplomatic Solution

The unconditional release of abducted Israeli soldiers Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev and their return to Israel.

A halt to the firing of rockets at residents of the State of Israel and at Israeli targets.

The full and complete implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 including the disarming of all armed militias, the extension of the sovereignty of the Lebanese Government over all its territory and the deployment of the Lebanese Army along the border with Israel.


The Diplomatic Alternative:

Israel welcomed the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region and welcomed a comprehensive diplomatic effort in addressing the current crisis. Israel knows that ultimately there needs to be a diplomatic solution to the current crisis, not a military one.

Israeli officials have stated that they look forward to working with the international community to explore the possibility of an International Force deployed in southern Lebanon. Israel wants to participate in defining the characteristics of such a force in the hopes that it will be fair and efficient. For the past 26 years, International Forces in southern Lebanon have proven to be ineffective.

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Good places to start researching facts about Israel and Jerusalem:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/index.html

For Israeli matters, this is their list of contents page: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/israel.html

The ADL is also a good source:
http://www.adl.org/israel/advocacy/default.asp

For matters of religion, here are two links:
http://www.torah.org/
http://www.aish.com/

And of course Wikipedia has entries:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionism

Other than that, there are many webpages pro and con, historical, religious, cultural, etc. Read different sources, compare points of view, take obvious biases of the authors of the material into account.Unfortunately, only the anti-Israel position is simple and easy to grasp. The truth is a more complex and nuanced beast.