Monthly Archives: February 2021

Orthodoxy in ‘Shtisel’ and ‘Nurses’

Posted on by
5

The Ultra Orthodox Jewish community does not often get represented in mass media. In recent times, two shows focused on that community with dramatically different results – and seemingly, intentions.

Netflix aired two seasons of an Israeli show “Shtisel” about an Ultra Orthodox family in Jerusalem. The show revealed the complicated family structure and dynamics of a dysfunctional Haredi family to a surprisingly broad public appeal. Jews and non-Jews around the world flocked to watch the show as they saw much of themselves in the family relationships despite the distant and insular community in which they lived.

This was in sharp contrast to a recent episode of NBC’s “Nurses” which aired on February 9 which also featured religious Jews. In that episode, a young Hasidic patient refused a bone graft lest the skin come from a “dead goyim leg from anyone. An Arab, a woman.” Due to howls of protest of the disgusting portrayal, NBC pulled the show from its online library.

“Shtisel” did not shy away from the peculiar traditions of the Hasidic community such as rigid gender roles, courtship rituals or dress code. The writers did not try to make the characters perfect in any matter: they were at once deeply flawed and deeply human. Their failures and pains enveloped the audience. While the people on screen were clearly different, the common humanity was appreciated and celebrated by all viewers.

This was in sharp contrast to the approach of “Nurses.” The show did not try to show religious Jews as sharing the same day-to-day conflicts and concerns but cast them as distinctly foreign with unheard of alien beliefs. These Jews held racist and xenophobic attitudes that were designed to shock the audience. These were another set of the “deplorables” that Hillary Clinton had warned America about. They weren’t the classic white-hooded clansmen, but black-hatted supremacists all the same.

Screenshot from episode of TV show ‘Nurses’

Not two weeks later, NBC’s Saturday Night Live aired a segment of “Weekend Update” which accused Israel of only vaccinating Jews against COVID-19, leaving non-Jews to die, a complete falsehood. No apology was forthcoming from the comedian, the show or network.

The vilification of religious Jews in the United States is growing ever more commonplace and mainstream media and liberal politicians will tell you that it is all from right-wing fringe groups, even as they air anti-Semitic segments with increasing regularity.

Related First One Through articles:

Shtisel, The Poem Without an End, Continues

Reuters Can’t Spare Ink on Iranian Anti-Semitism

For The NY Times, Antisemitism Exists Because the Alt-Right is Racist and Israel is Racist

The Crime, Hatred and Motivation. Antisemitism All The Same

Subscribe YouTube channel: FirstOneThrough

Join Facebook group: Israel Analysis and FirstOneThrough

Exports from Gaza Through Israel Hit Record

Posted on by
4

Much of Gaza’s economy relies on exporting goods like textiles and agricultural products. After the terrorist group HAMAS took over the area in 2006, Israel and Egypt put a blockade in place to limit the importation of weapons. After three wars from the Gazans in 2008, 2012 and 2014, as well as intermittent rocket fire and arson balloons launched into Israel and attacks against the separation fence, Israel limited exports to the strip as well.

From June 2007 to October 2014, an average of 13.5 trucks left Gaza each month according to Gisha. As part of the “hudna,” or truce after the summer 2014 war, Israel began to allow more exports to the West Bank through the Kerem Shalom Crossing. The monthly average soon jumped to 113 truckloads of goods in 2015 and to 178 truckloads in 2016. The numbers continued to grow.

Kerem Shalom Crossing (photo: Reuters)

In December 2019, Gazan exports broke the 400 truckload milestone for the first time, and did so again in January 2020. In September 2020, Israel began to increase its purchase of Gaza’s exports. In December 2020, Israel purchased over 100 truckloads of Gazan goods.

Last month, in January 2021, Gazan exports broke the 500 monthly truckloads milestone for the first time. There were 143 truckloads destined for Israel and 361 and 4 bound for the West Bank and other locations, respectively.

Despite the attacks on Israel and Gazans support for killing Israeli civilians, Israel is actively engaged in supporting the Gaza economy. It’s a story that will not be told by the mainstream media.

Related First One Through articles:

Quantifying the Values of Gazans

Looking at Gaza Through Swedish Glasses

CNN Makes Clear the Attackers and Victims in Gaza-Israel Fight

Subscribe YouTube channel: FirstOneThrough

Join Facebook group: Israel Analysis and FirstOneThrough

Every Picture Tells a Story: Israel Is Scared of Female Iranian Shoppers

Posted on by
8

The New York Times has begun its latest battle with Israel and other Arab countries which seek to ensure that Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons and threaten the region, now that Joe Biden is president. The paper’s game plan is seemingly to make Iran appear as a benevolent actor, akin to other nuclear powers like France.

The February 20, 2021 print edition of The New York Times had an article called “Israel Reacts to U.S. Strategy on Iran Quietly, but Warily.” The article contained two black and white pictures with the larger top picture featuring two Iranian women shopping, while the bottom picture featured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu surrounded by security people. The caption read “Above, a bazaar in Tehran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, avoided direct comment on the U.S. plan to reopen negotiations with Iran.“

For a story about the Iranian nuclear deal, the “news”paper opted to showcase a couple of women shopping to “educate” its readership about the nature of Iran. It declined to use footage which would have actually added context to the story such as:

There are many pictures which would have been appropriate to include with the article as to why Israel is against the leading state sponsor of terrorism which threatened to wipe it off the map, gaining nuclear weapons. However, The NY Times wants to portray Israel as unduly nervous and paranoid about Iran, perhaps even racist. For the Times, Iran is much like France where women like to shop for handbags. Perhaps the Times will re-launch its tourism junket to Iran (which it billed as a “powerful country [which] has entranced, mystified and beguiled the world. Discover the ancient secrets and modern complexities of this influential land”) as soon as the pandemic winds down.

Related First One Through articles:

Every Picture Tells A Story: Palestinian Terrorists are Victims

Every Picture Tells a Story: Have Israel and the US Advanced Peace?

Every Picture Tells a Story: Goodbye Peres

Every Picture Tells a Story: Anti-Semitism

Every Picture Tells a Story: No Need for #MeToo for Palestinians

Every Picture Tells a Story: Fire

Every Picture Tells a Story: The Invisible Killed Terrorists

Every Picture Tells a Story: Arab Injuries over Jewish Deaths

New York Times’ Lost Pictures and Morality for the Year 2015

Every Picture Tells a Story: Versions of Reality

Every Picture Tells A Story: Only Palestinians are Victims

Every Picture Tells a Story: The Invisible Murdered Israelis

Every Picture Tells a Story- Whitewashing the World (except Israel)

The New York Times’ Buried Pictures

Every Picture Tells a Story, the Bibi Monster

Every Picture Tells a Story, Don’t It?

Subscribe YouTube channel: FirstOneThrough

Join Facebook group: Israel Analysis and FirstOneThrough

Parshat Zachor: Defeating the Scar

Posted on by
3

On the Sabbath just before the Jewish holiday of Purim, Jews around the world read a short story from Deuteronomy 25:17-19 about remembering the ancient people of Amalek who attacked the Jews as they left Egypt:

זָכ֕וֹר אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה לְךָ֖ עֲמָלֵ֑ק בַּדֶּ֖רֶךְ בְּצֵאתְכֶ֥ם מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃

Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt—

אֲשֶׁ֨ר קָֽרְךָ֜ בַּדֶּ֗רֶךְ וַיְזַנֵּ֤ב בְּךָ֙ כָּל־הַנֶּחֱשָׁלִ֣ים אַֽחַרֶ֔יךָ וְאַתָּ֖ה עָיֵ֣ף וְיָגֵ֑עַ וְלֹ֥א יָרֵ֖א אֱלֹהִֽים׃

how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear.

וְהָיָ֡ה בְּהָנִ֣יחַ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֣יךָ ׀ לְ֠ךָ מִכָּל־אֹ֨יְבֶ֜יךָ מִסָּבִ֗יב בָּאָ֙רֶץ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יְהוָֽה־אֱ֠לֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵ֨ן לְךָ֤ נַחֲלָה֙ לְרִשְׁתָּ֔הּ תִּמְחֶה֙ אֶת־זֵ֣כֶר עֲמָלֵ֔ק מִתַּ֖חַת הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם לֹ֖א תִּשְׁכָּֽח׃ (פ)

Therefore, when the LORD your God grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

The beginning of the reading and the end have seemingly conflicting commandments. At first we are commanded to remember what Amalek did, however, the end of the reading instructs us to block the memory of Amalek. Further, the final instruction is reinforced by “Do not forget” to wipe out the memory, another layer of conflicting commands.

Are Jews ordered to remember or to forget?

A closer reading of the verses reveals how to satisfy each commandment and the important unifying message.

The first sentence is a command to remember “what Amalek did,” their ACTIONS. Those people committed a horrific attack and that assault should not be forgotten.

The latter verse is to “blot out the memory of Amalek,” to block the IMPACT ON THE PYSCHE that the attack left on the Jewish people. The Jewish people were just getting to know the first tastes of freedom after generations of slavery, and were set upon by Amalek. The emotional and physical scars left on the Jews would be carried for the rest of their lives. But God made them victorious and He does not want the memory of the pain to overshadow that victory. More specifically, once Jews are situated in “safety from all your enemies” in the land of Israel that God gave “as a hereditary portion,” it is important that past victimhood not continue to negatively color the Jewish outlook on the world.

The message of Parshat Zachor is to remember past atrocities of evil nations but to not let the scars from those encounters cloud the vision of the peaceful present which God has provided.

“Victory O’ Lord” painted by John Everett Millais (1829-1896) depicting Moses, Aaron and Hur during the battle with Amalek

Related First One Through article:

Defeating Haman’s Big Ten Sons and Modern Antisemitism

The Nation of Israel Prevails

Chanukah and Fighting on Sabbath

The Karma of the Children of Israel

Subscribe YouTube channel: FirstOneThrough

Join Facebook group: Israel Analysis and FirstOneThrough

In San Francisco Schools, Anti-Zionism is Anti-Racism

Posted on by
15

The San Francisco School Board met on May 22, 2018 with a goal of ridding the school system of any signs of racism. It took two actions which showcase how liberals view Zionism as a racist endeavor.

The board decided to establish a panel to rename schools in the district which are “named for historical figures who engaged in the subjugation and enslavement of human beings; or who oppressed women, inhibiting societal progress; or whose actions led to genocide; or who otherwise significantly diminished the opportunities of those amongst us to the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” In January 2021 the panel put forward its recommendation to rename 44 schools, including those named after George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Abraham Lincoln, among others.

Abraham Lincoln school in San Francisco school district to be renamed

Upon announcing the selection of the schools to be renamed, School Board President Gabriela López said “we are working alongside the rest of the country to dismantle symbols of racism and white supremacy culture.” The fact that she endorsed renaming schools named after Lincoln who led the United States in a bitter civil war to end slavery did not seem to make her consider her actions or comment. Lopez added in an interview that “the criteria was created to show if there were ties to these specific themes, right? White supremacy, racism, colonization, ties to slavery, the killing of indigenous people, or any symbols that embodied that. And the committee shared that these are the names that have these ties.“

It is therefore curious – or telling – that at the same May 22 school board meeting, the school board voted to permit the actively anti-Zionist Arab Resource and Organizing Committee (AROC) to begin teaching Arabic and “cultural empowerment” to students in the schools. AROC’s anti-Zionist activities included blocking Israeli boats from docking and calls to destroy Israel with chants “from the river to the sea.” The group calls Israel an “apartheid” state that engages in “colonialism,” outright lies and smears which dovetail perfectly with the woke San Francisco School Board. These are the messages that San Francisco wants taught to its schoolchildren.

The reality is that schools in Gaza and the West Bank – seemingly strongly supported by AROC – promote its own form of “cultural empowerment” and are named after terrorists like Dalal Mughrabi, who led the murder of 37 civilians, including 12 children, in a bus hijacking. The murder of those civilians and young children are seemingly viewed as “anti-colonialism” “resistance” for the woke of San Francisco.

The Martyr Dalal Mughrabi Center with the logos of the Palestinian Authority, UN Women and The Norwegian Representative Office to the PA

When Belgium learned of its donor dollars going to fund Palestinian Arab schools after murderers, it froze funding which made the Palestinian Authority change the name. Alas, it took less than a month for the PA to then name two schools after the same terrorist.

San Francisco is stripping its schools of the names of American presidents who were instrumental in bringing democracy to America and the world, while simultaneously tacitly approving the naming of schools after the murderers of Jewish children, in hiring AROC to promote a twisted version of Arab “cultural empowerment.” Even the anti-Semites in Belgium do not stoop so low.

San Francisco is not only canceling America’s founding fathers but is simultaneously endorsing terrorism against America’s principal ally in the Middle East, the only Jewish State. It does this with the misguided woke self-righteousness of believing Israel shares the same “imperialist” and “racist” attitudes as the Unites States of America.

The generals of the Intersectional Army have begun a carpet gaslighting campaign and it is incumbent on all decent people to “rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

Related First One Through articles:

New York Times Lies about the Gentleness of Zionism

Empowering Women… To Murder

The New Salman Abedi High School for Boys in England and the Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel Soccer Tournament in France

Stopping the Purveyors of Hateful Propaganda

Israel was never a British Colony; Judea and Samaria are not Israeli Colonies

What do you Recognize in the Palestinians?

Collective Guilt / Collective Punishment

Subscribe YouTube channel: FirstOneThrough

Join Facebook group: Israel Analysis and FirstOneThrough

Importing Peaceful Ideas to the West Bank

Posted on by
5

While the Arab-Israeli Conflict has been going on for 100 years, there have been notable breakthroughs. Peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan in 1979 and 1994, respectively, were watershed moment which were unfortunately followed by the Two Percent War/Second Intifada (2000-2004), 2006 Lebanon War and Gaza Wars of 2008, 2012 and 2014. But in the waning years of the Trump Administration in 2020, Israel forged normalization agreements with several Arab countries including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

Democrats offered a tepid reaction to the new Arab-Israel peace announcements because there was no similar announcement with the Palestinians. However, a review of how Palestinians viewed their Israeli neighbors over the past several years shows interesting movements precisely when such archaic negative thinking is rejected.

Gazans consistently view Israel as an enemy. Palestinian polls show Gazans in favor of armed attacks inside of Israel against Jewish civilians by a majority ranging from two-thirds to over three-quarters, a shocking figure which should alarm the world (imagine if 75% of Pakistanis were in favor of killing civilians in India).

Arabs from the West Bank have a more nuanced attitude towards Israel. Their opinions change depending on current events.

results from Palestinian polls since mid-2015

The chart above shows how West Bank Arabs changed their attitudes in regards to launching an armed “Intifada” (blue line) and supporting the killing of Jewish civilians inside of Israel (orange line).

  • The “Stabbing Intifada” which included running over soldiers and civilians in the summer/fall of 2015 was popular among West Bank Arabs and saw a peak support level for terrorism at 47%.
  • The Trump administration announcement of its intention to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem saw an uptick supporting terrorism that had been dropping since the 2015 peak.
  • The lowest support for terrorism occurred after Trump cut funding for UNRWA. UNRWA is much more popular in Gaza where roughly 85% of Gazans get service from the UN agency, compared to only roughly 35% in the West Bank.
  • Support for Hamas and attacks against Israel spiked shortly thereafter, when Israel botched a military operation in Gaza. Palestinian Arabs widely viewed Hamas as being the victor in the contest, and with that perceived win, support for terror rose.
  • Support for attacking Israelis among West Bank Arabs declined since then and reached a low with the signing of the Abraham Accords

Interestingly, the Trump years saw a sharp decline in attitudes among West Bank Arabs supporting “lone wolf” attacks against Israeli Jewish civilians. Those four years saw the lowest Israeli death toll from terrorism in modern Israeli history. Meanwhile, the West Bankers support for an armed “Intifada” held somewhat constant.

Ending UNRWA’s mandate and fostering peace with more Arab nations seemingly directly impacts West Bank Arabs abandoning terrorism. Conversely, perceived “wins” for HAMAS in battles with Israel breathes new life for armed conflict. The path towards peace is clear: international peace brings peace while international meddling brings terror.

Related First One Through articles:

The 1967 War Created Both the “West Bank” and the Notion of a Palestinian State

American Leaders Always Planned on Israel Absorbing Much of the West Bank

Israel Has Much Higher Claims to The West Bank Than Golan Heights

The EU’s Choice of Labels: “Made in West Bank” and “Anti-Semite”

Names and Narrative: The West Bank / Judea and Samaria

Subscribe YouTube channel: FirstOneThrough

Join Facebook group: Israel Analysis and FirstOneThrough

Gazans Support Killing Jewish Civilians

Posted on by
41

The International Criminal Court decided last week that it has jurisdiction to try Israel for its actions in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel disputes the claim as it is not a member of the ICC and the Palestinian Authority is not a state so should not be able to submit claims in such forum.

The PA had asked the ICC to investigate Israel for war crimes, particularly for Israel’s actions during the 2014 Gaza War. The PA hopes to win on multiple fronts with its action, both against Israel and its political rival in Gaza, Hamas.

Hamas is a designated terrorist organization by the United States, Israel and several other countries. Its 1988 foundational charter remains the most anti-Semitic ruling document ever written, including that of Nazi Germany in the 1930’s. Unperturbed, Palestinians voted Hamas to a majority of parliament in 2006 with that charter in the hopes of destroying Israel as the Two Percent War/ Second Intifada which started in 2000 came to a close.

The people of Gaza lust for Jewish blood has not abated. In the latest Palestinian poll conducted on December 15, 2020, a remarkable 77% of Gazans responded that they very strongly support (30.8%) and strongly support (45.9%) armed attacks against Israeli civilians inside of Israel. The fact that such a question can even be posed should be viewed as incitement to violence and a crime against humanity. That more than three-quarters of Gazans support killing Jewish civilians inside Israel should settle any discussion about the nature of the Hamas ruling authority and the people who live in Gaza.

Results of PCPRS poll 78 of December 2020. The first column shows overall results, the second shows results from the West Bank and last column is Gaza

The United Nations and liberal media falsely state that Gazans are “resorting” to violence and that Gaza rocket fire into Israel is “indiscriminate” but the will of Palestinian Arabs is clear that their aim is to kill Jewish civilians. The appropriate response from Israel – and from the ICC should they pursue the matter – is also abundantly clear.

Related First One Through articles:

Peter Beinart is an Apologist for Anti-Semites

The United Nations Once Again “Encourages” Hamas

The New York Times wants the military to defeat terrorists (but not Hamas)

CNN Makes Clear the Attackers and Victims in Gaza-Israel Fight

Quantifying the Values of Gazans

Looking at Gaza Through Swedish Glasses

Subscribe YouTube channel: FirstOneThrough

Join Facebook group: Israel Analysis and FirstOneThrough

Mexico’s Coronavirus Disgrace

Posted on by
1

While the U.S. liberal media has tried to paint the coronavirus as a matter which only countries led by Socialists and/or women can navigate, they have ignored the country immediately to the south which is fairing horribly.

Mexico ranks as number 18 in the world in the number of deaths per million (number 16, ignoring small Gibraltar and San Marino), with 1,330. The country is led by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who had COVID some weeks ago, who is a Socialist pushing for higher wages, free internet, absolution for drug criminals, while driving away private investment. He has no grasp for the situation.

Putting aside his refusal to wear a mask, his administration is not testing anyone. To date, Mexico has only tested 38,925 people per million. That compares to Hungary (1,414 deaths and 348,124 tests per million), Spain (1,384 deaths and 765,137 tests per million), Peru (1,308 deaths and 206,862 tests per million) and Panama (1,284 deaths and 409,116 tests per million). The country is testing at rates that are 10 to 30 times LESS than countries with similar death tolls. The countries with so few tests have a fraction of the death rate and include Uzbekistan (40,804 tests with 18 deaths per million), Honduras (40,661 tests with 385 deaths per million), Pakistan (37,576 tests and 55 deaths per million) and Indonesia (36,414 tests with 120 deaths per million). That’s Mexico at 1,330 deaths per million and other countries ranging from 18 to 385, three to 74 times the rate of death.

Socialist Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador refuses to wear a mask as his country climbs to #3 in total deaths from the coronavirus

Despite these numbers, and only 86,000 people fully vaccinated in a country of 126 million, Mexico just announced it is reducing the COVID-19 alert in half of the states.

Democratic politicians have not voiced any concern or demands that the U.S. assist Mexico in its vaccination program despite the horrific numbers for its neighbor to the south. Instead, they criticize Israel for not vaccinating Arabs in the Palestinian territories and push for U.S. monies to flow into Gaza and Iran before noting any concern for Puerto Rico.

It would appear that Democrats only care about Mexicans when it comes to immigration, not their actual well-being.

Related First One Through articles:

Where the Virus is Killing the Most: Countries with Socialist Leaders

Progressive’s Coronavirus Contagion

The West Bank / Gaza Coronavirus Gap

The U.N. Doesn’t Care About Middle-Aged White Male Victims of Covid-19

Subscribe YouTube channel: FirstOneThrough

Join Facebook group: Israel Analysis and FirstOneThrough

Biden Ignores Own Comments Hiring Vilifier of Netanyahu

Posted on by
6

President Joe Biden has opted to ignore his own past comments by proposing to hire into his administration someone who attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In November 2015, Biden berated Israel about a prospective member of the Israeli administration who had said derogatory things while he was a private citizen, about US President Obama (that his actions are akin to “modern anti-Semitism”).  Biden waved his finger and scolded Israel: “There is no excuse, there should be no tolerance for any member or employee of the Israeli administration referring to the president of United States in derogatory terms. Period, period, period, period!”

Yet today, Biden has proposed hiring Matt Duss, a foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders, to a senior post in the U.S. State Department. Duss has a long history of anti-Israel and anti-Netanyahu statements including his criticism of the Abraham Accords which ushered in normalization agreements between Israel and several Muslim Arab countries. Duss’s 2020 tweets read:

  • “Netanyahu is right at home among these authoritarian rulers, who openly express disdain for liberal principles and incite against internal enemies supposedly plotting against them.“
  • “It was unsurprising that Netanyahu’s advocates would hail the deal, since they’re all basically racists who see despotism as Arabs’ natural state. What was disappointing was seeing how many liberal Democrats who should know better joining in.“

Duss had called Netanyahu a racist several times before, including his 2019 tweet:

“Netanyahu’s racist campaign now includes this ad about how he disrespected the first black president in his own house,” seeking to inflame the Black community against Israel.

In 2017, Duss said that U.S. President Donald Trump and Netanyahu were two racist peas in a pod in a tweet:

“Let’s be fair: Trump is America’s Netanyahu. Bibi has been a racist demagogue his entire career. Trump just makes it safe to point this out.“

Matthew Duss, Israel critic, being considered for position in Biden Administration’s State Department

Netanyahu pulled his candidate from assuming a role in the Israeli government so as to not to offend a key ally. Should Biden welcome a fierce critic of Israel who has insulted the leader of Israel many times into his foreign policy team, he is either a hypocrite or doesn’t view Israel as an ally anymore.

Related First One Through articles:

Ramat Shlomo, Jerusalem and Joe Biden

Trump’s “eastern Jerusalem” and Biden’s “East Jerusalem”

While Joe Biden Passionately Defends Israel, He Ignores Jewish Rights and the History of the Jewish State

Will Biden Enable Hamas’s Sponsors of Iran, Qatar and Turkey

Subscribe YouTube channel: FirstOneThrough

Join Facebook group: Israel Analysis and FirstOneThrough

The West Bank / Gaza Coronavirus Gap

Posted on by
3

Palestinians polled themselves in December 2020, as they do every quarter. The differences between the West Bank and Gaza continued to be consistent in several areas such as Gazans favoring Hamas much more than West Bank Arabs.

The poll noted that more Gazans think that Hamas is not corrupt (45.3%) versus 8.3% of Arabs in the West Bank; Gazans back Hamas for president (64.4%) versus only 37.9% of West Bank Arabs; and 53.9% of Gazans believing fair elections can be held while 58.2% of West Bank Arabs think otherwise. When it comes to the Palestinian Authority (PA), almost everyone agrees that it is hopelessly corrupt (88.9% and 84.5% for Gaza and West Bank Arabs, respectively).

The latest poll also asked if people wanted to get the coronavirus vaccine. In Gaza, 50.5% and 31.6% stated they certainly did and thought they wanted to be vaccinated, respectively (82.1% in favor of vaccination), while 49.8% and 19.4% of West Bank Arabs said they certainly and probably DID NOT want to be vaccinated, respectively (69.2% against vaccination).

That is a remarkable difference in attitudes towards vaccination between the two regions which begs the question as to why Gazans want the vaccine while West Bank Arabs do not.

Two possible reasons: population density and trust in institutions.

Gaza is an extremely compact area with over 13,000 people per square mile. That compares to 759 people per square mile in the West Bank (17 times less). As the coronavirus spreads from person-to-person, it stands to reason that Gazans are more nervous about the virus rapidly spreading.

As relevant, is the fact that Gazans trust the Hamas authorities to look out for them. Both the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza do not trust the PA in any matter. With Hamas ruling Gaza and in charge of coordinating a vaccination program with the United Nations, Gazans are much more comfortable getting the vaccine than West Bank Arabs led by the PA with zero credibility.

Meanwhile in the United States, several far-left members of Congress including Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Rep. Marie Newman (D-IL), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) criticized Israel for not vaccinating Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank, even though the PA took on the responsibility for healthcare in the Oslo Accords and does so together with the United Nations. To suggest that Israel should re-enter Gaza, which it left in 2005, to vaccinate people who have gone to war with Israel three times since 2008 is both illogical and dangerous. To push Israel to vaccinate West Bank Arabs who don’t want the vaccine would be an assault. If West Bankers do not trust the Palestinian Authority, why would anyone think they would trust Israel?

The PA stated publicly that it was not asking Israel to secure vaccinations for them and are coordinating efforts with the World Health Organization. Members of the PA Health Ministry were insulted by the suggestion that they work with Israel adding “We are not a department in the Israeli Defense Ministry. We have our own government and Ministry of Health, and they are making huge efforts to get the vaccine.“

The concern of the American “progressives” uniquely for Palestinians is puzzling as they are faring better than most. According to the current information from Worldometers:

CountryCases per 1MDeaths per 1M
Bulgaria32,3211,346
Belize29,947761
Ukraine28,491540
Albania29,282503
Jordan32,527426
Denmark34,660382
Palestinians31,327362
Turkey29,744314
UAE32,46392
countries with roughly 31,000 cases per 1M population

The Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank rank 62nd globally in frequency of cases and have far fewer deaths than other countries with a similar positive infection rate. Yet there has been no outcry from those same Democrats about the situation in Bulgaria or Belize who are dying at rates multiples higher than Arabs. It seems to suggest that the left-wing Americans are using the coronavirus dynamic merely as a cudgel against Israel.

Israeli Arab receiving coronavirus vaccination

There is a significant gap in the attitude of Gazans and West Bank Arabs regarding the coronavirus vaccine as well as among far-left politicians regarding their concern for Palestinian Arabs and Albanians who are fairing much worse in the pandemic. The gap is one of trust, with Palestinians trusting Hamas but not the PA, and “Progressives” singularly not trusting Israel among all the nations.

Related First One Through article:

Liberal Senators Look to Funnel Money into Gaza

Subscribe YouTube channel: FirstOneThrough

Join Facebook group: Israel Analysis and FirstOneThrough