Asking the Obvious

 

Much needs to be learned regarding the recent antisemitic riots.  There’s something going on that is big.  Those huge riots didn’t spring from nowhere.  Their size and coordination can only have occurred, not necessarily knowing in advance exactly when to execute, but they did require an extensive, organized, trained and very well funded organization already in place.

Where’s the FBI?

Obsessed with the Israeli War

 

Ever since October 7, I feel like I’ve been living in a kind of fog. I hate that feeling; I thrive on trying to be clear-headed and practical. As the days pass, I’m feeling more like myself, which also means that the numbness is dissipating and the realities of violence and chaos are tugging at my brain.

Many factors are contributing to my disrupted state of mind. For one, I still can’t imagine the savagery and hatefulness that permitted Hamas to act as they did on October 7. It is beyond comprehension. These are human beings destroying human beings in the vilest way in the 21st century. And yet these same people put their children to bed at night, break bread together, and laugh with their friends. The women talk with each other over their tea, and the men meet to pray to a G-d that is incomprehensible to Westerners.

Americans Should Take Islamism Very Seriously

 

In a speech following 9/11, President Bush assured us that in spite of that terrorist attack, all humans deep in their hearts long for freedom and brotherhood. It’s a comforting sentiment, but it’s not true.

Radical Islamists openly proclaim their disdain for freedom as another decadent Western value. Iranian street crowds commonly chant “Death to America.” They are deadly serious. Radicalized Muslims think and behave so radically different than we do that we keep dangerously misjudging them and making massive blunders in our adversarial dealings with them (think Iran nuclear deal).

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a leading Muslim reformer, recently explained in the pages of the Arizona Republic that not all Muslims are Islamists. Some are moderate, even members of secular political movements such as the Iranian Women’s Revolution. But Islamists are the dominant side of the House of Islam, in part due to their massive financing by oil-rich Persian Gulf tribes. This allows them to control Islamic propaganda and education.

No ‘Pause’ without Freedom for Hostages

 

As of this writing, the fighting in Gaza continues to rage, as the Israelis have surrounded the Hamas forces, now trapped in the elaborate tunnels that had allowed Hamas to launch its unprovoked and bloody assault against Israel on October 7—yet another day that will live in infamy—with its 1,300 Israelis dead and tortured and thousands more wounded. The fierce Israeli response has without question killed a large number of civilians, many of whom have been used by Hamas as human shields in violation of the laws of war. The proposal recently put on the table by President Biden and his secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is to allow for an immediate “pause,” which the New York Times calls something short of a traditional cease-fire, even if for some indefinite duration. The humanitarian case for the pause is that it will let desperately needed supplies reach the Palestinian civilian population and will allow for the orderly movement of women and children to lands south of Gaza City in relative safety.

But the Biden proposal falls short on at least on one point. It claims that the pause gives both sides time to negotiate for the release of Hamas’s hostages. But Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu surely has the right opening negotiation gambit: there must be no pause until the hostages are unconditionally released. The sequence really matters. It is naïve to ignore that any pause for such negotiations would give Hamas a chance to draw out the negotiations indefinitely, and further to insist that certain other conditions be satisfied by the Israelis, including the release of Hamas soldiers and other prisoners in Israel now held for the commission of violent offenses—people who could rejoin the struggle once the pause has been concluded. Why is Israel bound to negotiate for the release of hostages who never should have been captured in the first place? The Israelis have already secured the release of five hostages, but no one can claim that they must now give something to Hamas in return.

As is well known, many of the hostages are not Israelis, but come from other countries. Thus, the total includes some 54 citizens of Thailand, none of whom has dual citizenship with Israel, and at least 138 hostages with foreign passports from places like Argentina, Germany, the United States, France, and Russia, some of whom may well be dual Israeli citizens. One of the marks of terrorism is the indiscriminate use of force, and Hamas has yet again exceeded the bounds of decency by holding these innocent parties in its attempt to extract gains from Israel. It is within Hamas’s power to release these persons—all of them—immediately, and to account for those who have died during their long ordeal. For anyone to insist that the hostage release become part of some negotiations puts these captives at undue risk.

Someone Must Bury Them

 

Before you view the following video, you might want to read about the role of the Chevra Kadish, the people who are dedicated to handling the remains of those who have died. Unfortunately, October 7 presented new, horrible challenges to those who do this honorable work. Caroline Glick invited one of the members to speak about her experience. Although her account is graphic, there are no photographs. She ordinarily would not speak about her work, but she is so appalled at the denials about those massacred that she felt compelled to speak out. I was so impressed with her dedication, commitment, and respect for those she tended to, as did her husband.

I believe the woman is an angel.

[Member Post]

 

All related to the war between civilization (Israel, the liberal democratic west and its eastern allies) and barbarism (Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, their eastern allies and western sycophants) currently being waged mostly in Israel but also in a city or suburb near you:   Preview Open

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Will Hamas Win the Propaganda War?

 

As we watch with alarm the pro-Hamas protests that are taking place all over the world and in the U.S. in response to the war in Israel, I can’t help but wonder about the mindset of these people. Can it really just be about anti-Semitism, meaning that you can cheer on the attackers and destroyers? Do all of those people ignore the evidence about the vicious attacks on civilians, women, and children in Israel, or do they simply not care because they are Jews?

Especially concerning is that when this conflict is over (and I have to assume it will end one day), what will world opinion say about the two adversaries? What happens if the world condemns Israel and supports Hamas? You may say that couldn’t happen, but if you look at the propaganda war that Hamas is waging, I wouldn’t be so sure. Even when Hamas acts in ways that hurt the Palestinians, the world takes their side. Let me give you a few examples:

  1. Demanding a cease fire to bring in humanitarian aid—there is no way to be assured that the aid that comes in will not be taken by Hamas for their war efforts. John Kirby with the NSC even tried to re-label the cease-fire by calling it a “pause,” but even if they took that approach, international pressure would likely demand that it be extended or that negotiations commence. Meanwhile, watch for pressure from the United States and then other nations to ramp up the aid on behalf of the Palestinians. Meanwhile, Hamas will steal the aid for themselves.
  2. Hamas builds hospitals, schools, homes, and businesses over the huge maze of tunnels they have built. Hamas isn’t reluctant to use human beings as shields, even their own people. Every time Israel tries to destroy a tunnel that provides a safe haven for Hamas, they could be destroying the people in the building above ground, as well as those in the tunnels, including not only Hamas fighters but hostages and other civilians. Striking hospitals, even under these circumstances, will bring Israel’s fighting strategy into question. And of course, many Israeli soldiers will die, no matter how advanced their techniques for tunnel destruction.
  3. Hamas has told the Israelis from the start to enact a cease-fire so that negotiations to release the hostages can take place. Acquiescing to any demand from Hamas would put Israel in a weak position, and the Israelis would not have the power to insist that Hamas agree to their terms. At this point, there is no way to know how many hostages are still alive. Although every human life is precious, hundreds if not thousands of lives could be at stake if negotiations for hostages took place.
  4. Most of the mainstream media is colluding with Hamas. Reports of the activities on October 7 are limited, so, information on the full horror of the Hamas attack can only be found on certain media.
  5. Even the media is using the pejorative language of Hamas: words like apartheid, colonialism, occupation are commonplace. Every time these words are used, they condemn Israel—and sympathize with Hamas.
  6. Iran will continue to supply Hamas with weapons, and at this time, there is no indication that anyone, including the US, is prepared to stop them. Joe Biden is either intimidated by Iran or still harbors the outrageous belief that he will be able to negotiate an agreement with Iran.
  7. When hospitals are hit with weapons, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reports the number of people killed or wounded. The PMH, however, has been shown in the past to be unreliable regarding the accuracy of these numbers. We saw this verified when Hamas blamed Israel for striking a hospital, claiming hundreds were killed; instead, an out-of-control missile from Islamic Jihad was responsible, and many fewer were hurt. Neither Hamas not the PMH corrected the record.
  8. Israel will enter Palestinian villages if they are harboring Hamas leaders, as they did in Jabaliya, a Hamas stronghold. In the process, many Palestinians will also perish. These actions ensure that the Hamas leadership is destroyed, but the Israelis will be accused of killing civilians.
  9. Protestors insist that the stories of Hamas atrocities are misinformation, even though Hamas filmed their actions of attacking, burning civilians, and killing babies.

*     *     *     *

German Vice-Chancellor Habeck on the Protection of Jews in Germany

 

Sure, he’s a Green, but he has been exceptionally good on defending Jews in Germany since Oct. 7th. Regarding the public outbursts of Jew-hatred and support for Hamas, he says, “We can’t be outraged enough” against them, and “Anti-Semitism cannot be tolerated in any form.”

Here is the whole speech (in German, you can use the subtitles and auto-translate function in YouTube):

Mourning, Martyrdom, and Murder

 

Yesterday, Israel announced the deaths of 16 soldiers, including the older brother of one of my son’s classmates. You may remember the picture; he was the young man with the camera. I was gutted. At the same time, I have not been gutted by the deaths of thousands of Gazans, despite the fact that not everybody killed has been a fighter.

[Member Post]

 

The peculiarities of English law and the enlarged remit of the London Mayor appear to be the source of some of the anti-Western actions of the British police while under the control of Leftist Sadiq Kahn.   Our British members can probably better explain/correct me, but I am under the understanding that the London Mayor, as […]

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Florida Bans Pro-Palestinian Groups from Campus

 

It’s time. They’ve had their say, intimidating Jewish students through their words and actions. They have dragged our rights to Free Speech to a new low. And Gov. Ron DeSantis has said, “enough.” Here’s what’s been enacted:

The head of Florida’s university system has directed schools to disband campus chapters of a pro-Palestinian student group he alleges are aligned in support of terrorists. In a letter Tuesday to the state’s 12 university presidents, State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues said two Florida chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine ‘must be deactivated.’ A spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis said the governor directed that the University of Florida and the University of South Florida remove the groups immediately.

[Member Post]

 

History buffs: This is probably as close as one can come to interviewing the members of the Einsatzgruppen who deliberately targeted Jewish civilians circa 1940-41? It’s a compilation of the interviews/interrogations of captured Hamas terrorists in Israel. Evil people are…pathetic.  Preview Open

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Accusations and Anger Work Against Gaza Peace

 

There is no question that the struggle in Gaza is as much about words as it is about hostages, guns, and rockets. In my last column, I decried the constant efforts by Western journalists to downgrade the culpability of Hamas terrorists by calling them “fighters” and “militants.” Belatedly, one such offender, the BBC, issued a wishy-washy explanation for its past practice of calling these terrorists “militants” and “gunmen.” But its explanations and its backtracking on one inflammatory story, paralleling a similar weak response in the New York Times, did not undo the untold harm from its sloppy reporting, which sparked additional protests in Arab lands by first saying that an Israeli missile, and not an errant Hamas rocket bound for Israel, damaged a Gaza hospital.

Its act of “speculation,” as the BBC characterized it, was relatively small change compared to the nonstop campaign by Hamas and its supporters to brand Israel an outcast “colonial” nation whose “occupation” and “apartheid” actions justified Hamas “resistance,” even in the form of mass slaughter of innocent Israelis whose only crime is to live in a land that Hamas claims as part of a greater Palestine that runs from “the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea,” an area, which now becomes increasingly clearer, that should in their view be “Judenrein,” that is, free of all Jewish people.

It is wholly illegitimate to treat these political claims, even if true, as any justification for the mass slaughter that took place, which has spurred Israel’s determination to rid Gaza of all elements of Hamas, after which it might be possible to have some responsible discussion of future relationship between the two warring peoples. But that discussion can begin only if the supposed justifications for the “resistance” are decisively laid aside.

Rescuing the Underdog

 

As I watch the college students’ protests supporting Hamas and the Palestinians, I am filled with revulsion. Given their attacks not just on Israel, but on all Jews, I take their actions personally. I wonder, if they could find a way to “eliminate” me, would they try? Then my rational mind kicks in and I realize that I’m not really in any danger. Or am I being naive?

I’ve always been compelled to understand why people think and act as they do. As Dennis Prager says, he’s more interested in understanding than agreement (although that is not totally true for me as these protests continue). So here are my thoughts on what is going on.

Protestors Back the Underdogs—Hamas has done an excellent job of creating the perception that they are the victims of Israeli oppression. The fact that they have had opportunities to improve their circumstances, particularly when Israel evacuated the area, is meaningless to their advocates. That they took over successful Israeli businesses and destroyed them instead of building on them doesn’t seem to matter.

Hamas Will Never Settle for Peace

 

The naivete and ignorance of the world regarding Hamas and its goals is beyond belief. People keep crying out for peace, for cease fires, for aid to the Palestinians, as they choose to ignore the basic tenets of Hamas, because Hamas’ goals violate the standards of civilized society. But until we understand and accept that Hamas will never stop fighting until every Jew is destroyed, the very existence of Israel is in jeopardy. The Covenant of Hamas (which explains the purpose of its existence), the incessant violence nearly always instigated by them, the violence against their own people (the Palestinians), their allegiance to taqqiya, their appeal to those who favor the underdog, and the lack of any evidence that they are willing to live in peace with Israel, show how we can begin to understand how bleak the situation is for Israel.

Few people seem willing to look at the Covenant of Hamas, which explicitly states its mission to destroy Israel. If you wish to read the entire document, you can go here. For a summary of the document, you can go here.

This document was issued on August 18, 1988, and says the following:

[Member Post]

 

I’ve been asked to speak at a pro-Israel (specifically, anti-rape/torture/babykilling/murder) vigil down in our Big City tomorrow evening, as apparently some folks have learned that I am among the few (!?!?!?!) local clergy willing and able to speak up for raped, tortured murder victims without defaulting to Ilhanian mumblings: “Isn’t it sad that some people […]

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