Tag: Jerusalem

A Dark and Stormy Night’s Big Fish Story

Sisyphus
Sisyphus
11 7
 

It was a monster gale, out of season, that swooped out of the night with no warning. The sail snagged and tore as we pulled it down and the crew struggled at the oars to keep us pointing into waves that seemed to come from multiple directions, like a cat to22ying with a rat. We lost Old Hermes first, he was at the rudder when the storm came up and he was still shouting warnings and orders and curses when a wave lifted him out and over the side. He was never easy to get along with, anyway, always trying to tell us about doing things the Greek way by which he meant the right way. He was an ugly old pus and the boys never gave him a moment’s thought.

We were carrying wheat west to Tarshish in a guaranteed trouble-free cash in the pouch run. No trouble in that month on that route since my grandfather’s time. Someone had ticked off somebody’s gods, and the captain was going to find them and send them after Hermes with his own hands. He lunged from man to man on the rolling deck confronting each one.

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Walk-Ins Welcome w/ Bridget Phetasy #59

Bret Stephens On Why Disagreement is the Basis of Every Free Society Explicit

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Hosted by Bridget Phetasy

Bret Stephens, op-ed columnist for The New York Times, sits down with Bridget to discuss Trump’s effect on the Republican Party, feeling out of place in your own country, the dangers of a culture that’s so sure of its convictions, mob politics, and how Trump’s behavior is both a symptom and a cause of a form of cultural corrosion. Bret talks growing up in Mexico and the perspective it gave him on the US that most Americans don’t have, and why what we have in the US is relatively rare, difficult to achieve, and extraordinarily easy to lose. He and Bridget cover tolerating behavior you find morally offensive because you realize that the price of intolerance is worse than whatever offense is being perpetrated, the unforgiving nature of writing a weekly column, maintaining the understanding you don’t possess a lock on truth, how antisemitism is like a society’s immune system, the emerging attitude of a hatred of excellence, and his experience of being in Jerusalem on 9/11.

Full transcript available here: WiW59-BretStephens-Transcript

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Three Martini Lunch

U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Constitutional Carry Vetoed, Media’s Middle East Bias

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Hosted by Greg Corombos & Jim Geraghty

Jim and Greg are both on vacation this week. They will be back June 25th. There will new episodes with guest hosts Thursday and Friday of this week. Today, please enjoy an encore presentation of the Three Martini Lunch.

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America welcome the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem after three previous administrations acknowledged Jerusalem as the Israeli capital but refused to move the embassy. They also wince as Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin vetoes legislation that would allow residents to carry guns without a permit, leading Jim to wonder whether the anti-gun backlash after Parkland is making GOP officials more timid. And they roll their eyes as the media condemn Israel for defending its borders against thousands of Palestinians specifically sent to the border to instigate a response from Israel.

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Eurovision 2019: The Hip Hop Beat of the Mideast Conflict

Eric L. Lipman
Eric L. Lipman
26 13
 

Two weeks ago, the organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest, made a startling announcement: The contest rules which have been in place for six decades should apply … unless, of course, a singer from Israel wins the contest …. and then, well, we need to rethink the matter.

Because an Israeli singer, Netta Barzilai, did in fact win the contest in Lisbon in mid-May, the European broadcasters had a dilemma: Follow the contest’s long-standing rules, or develop and apply a new, special set of rules that only apply to Israel.

To understand the controversy, and how it provides a view into the wider public diplomacy challenges that Israel faces each day, some background is needed.

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Harvard Lunch Club #175

Dying Anyway Podcast

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Hosted by Michael Stopa & Todd Feinburg

Welcome to the Harvard Lunch Club Political podcast number 175 (isn’t there like a name for that? like the sequeplus centennial or something?) it is the Dying Anyway Podcast with your handsome and charming hosts, radio guy Todd Feinburg and nanophysicist turned AI-guy Mike Stopa. We bring you the topics that you want to hear, analyzed the way that you want them to be analyzed.

This week, John McCain is in a bad way. Everyone knows that. But he still wants to express his opinion while he is on this side of the grass. But is there any reason we need to listen to him? He’s going to die anyway, right?

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Three Martini Lunch

U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Constitutional Carry Vetoed, Media’s Middle East Bias

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Hosted by Greg Corombos & Jim Geraghty

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America welcome the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem after three previous administrations acknowledged Jerusalem as the Israeli capital but refused to move the embassy. They also wince as Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin vetoes legislation that would allow residents to carry guns without a permit, leading Jim to wonder whether the anti-gun backlash after Parkland is making GOP officials more timid. And they roll their eyes as the media condemn Israel for defending its borders against thousands of Palestinians specifically sent to the border to instigate a response from Israel.

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Member Post

Gil Reich
Gil Reich
19 11
 

The statement that Jerusalem is holy to three religions is true. But it is disingenuous when used as a reason to refuse to recognize Jerusalem as the Jewish people’s capital. Those who see themselves as continuing the Jewish story celebrate Jerusalem as Jewish. So do those who wish to honor the Jewish people and their […]
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Humiliated and Embarrassed by World Opinion

Greg Strange
Greg Strange
18 15
 

You know what causes most of the world’s UN representatives to have conniption fits? Let’s see, would it be an endless civil war in Syria in which hundreds of thousands have been senselessly killed? No, not really. How about the endless nuclear threats emanating from the psycho-Marxist state of North Korea that endanger world stability? Actually, not so much. Well then, how about the collapse of oil-rich Venezuela into chaos and starvation due to government-imposed socialism? Nope, it’s all good.

Well, what then? Here’s a simple, one-word clue: Israel. That’s really all you need to know, isn’t it? The entire world could be collapsing due to simultaneously occurring wars and various apocalyptic events and the only thing that would get a rise out of this Jew-hating deliberative body is anything at all to do with Israel.

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Jerusalem and Islamism

Manny
Manny
39 17
 

Sometimes one comes across an article that provides such insight that one is startled into understanding. This article at Crisis magazine, “Jerusalem in the Islamic Imagination” by Derya Little, is just such an article. It provides an understanding of why Jerusalem has any importance in the greater Islamic world.

First, a short bio on Derya. She was born in Turkey and raised Muslim, fell into atheism, and had a conversion experience that took her into Christianity, ultimately settling on Catholicism. She has a Ph.D. in politics, so is quite learned and scholarly, and I’ve come across a number of her articles in the past year. Her insight and knowledge of the Islamic world and mindset are invaluable. She has a book out on her religious journey, From Islam to Christ: One Woman’s Path through the Riddles of God, which I have bought and intend to read shortly.

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Heritage Explains

Federal Spending & Jerusalem

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Romina Boccia, deputy director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, joins us on Mass Ave to discuss the latest on tax reform and federal spending. Jim Phillips, Senior Research Fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs, breaks down the President’s announcement on Jerusalem and why it’s long overdue.

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Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital: Now What?

Susan Quinn
Susan Quinn
23 15
 

The many opinions on Ricochet about Trump’s announcement to formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital have been exasperating, delightful, and insightful. As in many of these discussions, a major change like this bodes danger, disaster, and mayhem. I felt compelled to create some perspective on the situation, as hourly the concerns and positions shift. I explain my thoughts on the effect of Trump’s action in seven points. See what you think

1. There never was a legitimate peace process. The Jews always had a presence in Israel, in spite of the Diaspora. Then in the 19th century, Jewish immigration began to increase; the Arabs in the region resented them and repeatedly attacked them, especially from the 1920s onward. The Arabs made sure that everyone knew they were not interested in negotiating anything and that their only intention was to destroy the Jews. There is nothing that any Arab or so-called Palestinian has said to change those facts in recent years. I see no reason these circumstances will change in the future.

Conclusion: Israel needs to pursue a one-state solution that will deal with the Palestinian people in a fair and just way (whether or not they agree with it). From the PA’s corrupt and inept governance over the years, we see they are not capable of structuring or managing their own country; they will only maintain their goal of destroying Israel.

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Pope Francis’ Political Instincts Are Execrable

CB Toder aka Mama Toad
CB Toder aka Mama Toad
40 23
 

As a faithful, devout Catholic, I believe the pope to be infallible when he is pronouncing on matters of faith and doctrine. However, as I have told my own children many times, that does not mean that the pope is right about anything else. As a historian, I teach them of the history of the papacy, with all its lechers and weak-minded boobs, as well as its holy saints and wise and powerful leaders. In most of my lifetime, the pope has been someone whose wisdom I valued and whose reasoned statements on matters of international importance I could at least respect, even if I disagreed.

But, Pope Francis, as much as I pray for him as the leader of my church, has terrible political instincts. His self-important idea that if he doesn’t speak up, the Israelis will suddenly start oppressing religious worship, rather than being the only country in the Middle East that guarantees freedom of worship, makes me sick. The reality is that the threat of violence is not coming from the Israelis, and that only areas of Jerusalem that are under the control of the Israelis, not the Palestinians, are safe for people of all faiths.

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Three Martini Lunch

Dems Turn on Franken, Dem Hypocrisy Over Jerusalem, U.S. Wavering on Olympics?

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Hosted by Greg Corombos & Jim Geraghty

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America serve up all crazy martinis today. First, they wonder why no Senate Democrats demanded Al Franken’s resignation after six allegations of misconduct but 33 suddenly decided that a seventh accuser was the last straw. They also get a kick out of Democrats who have long called for the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital but are now outraged that President Trump actually did it. And they scratch their heads as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley says it is an “open question” as to whether the United States will participate in the Winter Olympics in South Korea next year due to security concerns.

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Breaking: Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital Isn’t the End of the World

Jon Gabriel, Ed.
Jon Gabriel, Ed.
29 18
 

Remember way back to 10 days ago when scrapping Net Neutrality was The End of the World? That was until last weekend when the GOP tax reform bill was Literally The End Of The World. Nevermind. Today, President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is Really, Totally, and Literally The End of the World.

Left unmentioned is that Jerusalem has been the real, total, and literal capital of Israel since its foundation; the US merely accepted that fact today. Way back in 1995, the US Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which said the same but allowed presidents to delay implementation via six-month waivers, which they have done ever since.

Presidential candidates of both parties have long publically supported Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In 2008, Barack Obama said, “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.” When running for the Senate, Hillary Clinton said, “you can be sure that I will be an active, committed advocate for a strong and secure Israel, able to live in peace with its neighbors, with the United States Embassy located in its capital, Jerusalem.”

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From Israel, Part 3: Jerusalem and the Temple Destructions

Susan Quinn
Susan Quinn
11 10
 

The Old City in Jerusalem, I’m convinced, can best be appreciated through the eyes of a guide. And if the guide is a religious Jew, all the better.

Rather than recount the story of Jerusalem, I’d rather share my experience of the day there. History and my impressions are intertwined as they are impossible to separate; my focus is on the most memorable moments. My friends, Alizah and Menashe joined me as our guide, Avi, took us back in time.

We entered the Old City at the Jaffa gate, where we could see the Dome of the Rock site with its golden sheath. This was known as the precise spot from which Muhammad entered heaven; it is said that the hoof of his horse left a permanent mark in the rock. Unfortunately for the Jews, the Dome was built over the rock where the Holy of Holies (the place where G-d dwelt on earth in the First and Second Temples) had been located hundreds of years earlier; it is the most sacred spot in Judaism.

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Member Post

Little My
Little My
4 5
 

I was recently retyping some U.S. Consular Reports from the 19th century as part of research for an article. Acting Consul Lorenzo M. Johnson sent his annual report to Secretary of State William H. Seward, dated 30 Sept. 1868 (USNA T471). Two items caught my eye: “The recent completion of the Dome of the Church […]
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If I Forget Thee…

iWe
iWe
28 17
 

Disclaimer: My son says words cannot capture what went on. I am trying anyway. This is the week before the 9th of Av, the date of the destruction of both temples, so the date (and recent unrest) makes it seem like now is the right time to post this.

Some months ago, I realized that I had an opportunity to get to Israel. Perhaps more importantly, I saw it as an opportunity to bring my #2 son, @Blessedblacksmith, to spend a few days in Israel. I knew it would be a journey of tears.

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