Ahasuerus’s banquet for his kingdom’s courtiers Made absolutely no mention of armed warriors. A curious start to a tale of genocide With elaborate feasts instead emphasized.
The king’s big party for the fortress Shushan Was a show of unity and included everyone. Ahasuerus’s generosity focused on wine With a specific order that no request be declined.
But amidst the partying and perceived unity Queen Vashti refused a summons; a perceived mutiny. The king’s advisers worried her refusal would be echoed By women throughout the kingdom; misandry bellowed.
“An affront to the king is a rebellion to the kingdom,” So his advisers pushed broad laws of questionable wisdom. Unanimity amongst the ruler’s dozen for the unity of provinces, Feasts and flowing wine blinding and bribing all grievances.
So begins the story of Purim, with feasts and a refusal A forum for opportunist Haman to gain power through an accusal. The non-conformity of a solitary person condemned all of Mordecai’s kind Since collective guilt disorder was heretofore enshrined.
While the story continues, this poem’s lesson is made: Individual actions can be judged harshly during a drunken purity crusade. Unity and non-conformity can coexist best When the people who surround you are kind and beloved guests.
Feasts and banquets which are made as a show of wealth, Including parading one’s spouse is not a picture of mental health. Instead, make your meals with friends; mix up your chocolate bark, Welcome beloved guests and the off-color remarks.
Very few countries in the world have a position in the government for descendants of the country’s original inhabitants who live abroad. Only one also has non-governmental organizations to combat the hatred of those persecuted members in the diaspora.
Israel.
The Jewish State of Israel was founded on three central beliefs of Modern Zionism: that Jews are a people who originate in the land of Israel; they have a right to self-determination and sovereignty in their homeland; and that their country will not only be a safe haven against Jew-hatred, but will combat noxious anti-Semitism around the world.
Today, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs is Amichai Chikli. Born in Jerusalem, he is the son of a Tunisian Conservative rabbi. His governmental position is to strengthen the bonds between Israel and Jews of the diaspora.
Israeli MK Amichai Chikli (Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Outside of the government, the World Zionist Organization promotes Zionism, and is a vehicle for world Jewry to interface with Israel. Nerya Meir assumed the head of the Diaspora Department and Raheli Baratz-Rix heads the WZO’s Department for Combatting Antisemitism. Last year, Prime Minister Yair Lapid appointed the actress Noa Tishby to a new position of Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and Delegitimization.
This letter is for each of them.
To Israel’s leaders to Diaspora Jewry,
We know that Israel is very busy with countless issues, and the roles each of you play to ensure a strong bond between the Jewish State and Diaspora Jewry is always appreciated.
We are keenly aware of how the nature of our relationship has changed since the re-establishment of the Jewish State in 1948: from a nascent struggling country fighting for survival seeking bodies and funds from diaspora, to a thriving democracy in the heart of an illiberal Middle East with the greatest concentration of Jews anywhere for the first time in almost two thousand years. The modern state welcomes Jewish immigrants, visitors and investment, while it no longer feels they are critical to its survival.
There are a few things to keep in mind as we enter this stage of our relationship.
The United States
Since 1948, the Diaspora has changed remarkably. In 1948, at the country’s founding, there were 34 countries with over 25,000 Jews. Today there are only 17, half that number. To put that in context, the 15 non-U.S. diaspora countries with over 25,000 Jews stands in contrast to 27 U.S. cities with more than 25,000 Jews.
Two countries – Israel and the United States – account for roughly 85% of world Jewry, with the U.S. accounting for 73% of the Jewish diaspora. While the U.S. does not define the diaspora, it is the most significant country by a very wide margin.
There are eight other diaspora countries which have over one percent of diaspora Jews living there, but only two of them – France and the United Kingdom – are also significant trading partners with Israel and members of the United Nations Security Council. Some of the other countries – like Argentina and Russia – have declining Jewish populations and should be viewed as countries for Israel to target for aliyah, rather than as significant long-term outposts of global Jewry.
Diaspora Anti-Semitism and Terrorism
Historically (the 1970s through 2010s), anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist attacks occurred in world capitals such as Athens, Rome, Istanbul, Paris, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Mumbai and London. Fanatics burst into synagogues, Jewish community centers and kosher restaurants and killed as many people as possible.
While the scourge has not left major international cities, the current trend in violence is more prevalent in American cities such as Pittsburgh, PA, Colleyville, TX, Jersey City, NJ and Poway, CA. It shouldn’t be a surprise: there are three times as many Jews in Pittsburgh (42,000) than in all of Turkey (14,300).
The same is true for Jews living in the Israeli territories east of the 1949 Armistice Lines (E49AL). While there are 25 countries in the world with over 10,000 Jews (including the U.S. and Israel), there are nine cities (and growing) in E49AL with such totals. Almost all have experienced attacks.
The facts above have been true for many years but have not penetrated the minds of most people. Part of the reason is attacks on Jews in European cities and E49AL is almost always tied to anti-Zionism, easily triggered in societies with centuries of ingrained anti-Semitism. This is in contrast to attacks in the United States which arise from anti-Semitism in a country established on the basis of religious freedom.
This is changing.
While the Israel-Gaza war in 2014 saw a sharp rise in anti-Semitic attacks in Europe, there were virtually none in the United States. Not so for the eleven day skirmish in May 2021, when gangs assaulted Jews all over the country. Jonathan Greenblatt of the ADL said during that time that “the brazenness, the audacity of these assaults in broad daylight. We have seen people basically say, if you are wearing a Jewish star, you must be a Zionist and you should be killed…. we have unhinged, fictionalized conspiracies about Israel, that somehow the Jewish State is systematically slaughtering children or committing genocide. And then that leads to real-world attacks on Jewish people in the streets of America, on our campuses, in our communities.”
It is in the streets of dozens of American cities that the danger of anti-Semitism is now the most pressing, and the scourge is increasingly tied to anti-Zionism.
America’s Jewish Cities and Universities
The 27 cities in the United States with over 25,000 Jews are not only in the biggest states which are solidly Democratic as popularly believed. While many are found in New York, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts and Illinois, a growing number are in Florida, Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
As shown in the table above, fifteen of the top 27 U.S. cities are located in solidly Democratic states per the 2020 presidential election. Seven cities were found in Republican states and five were in swing states.
Beyond these major Jewish population centers, are cities with universities with significant Jewish populations, many of which are suffering from anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist violence and rhetoric.
Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism have also spread to universities with significant Jewish populations in cities with relatively few Jews. Those include Brown University in Providence, RI (14,200 Jews) and Duke University in Durham, NC (12,000).
As an example, in February 2022, Duke passed a resolution which condemned anti-Semitism which included using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism which covered anti-Zionism. This was likely in response to vile anti-Semitic and anti-Israel speakers at the campus in 2019 as covered by a Ami Horowitz video. However, by March 2022, the Duke Student Government was sponsoring Student for Justice in Palestine events featuring noted anti-Zionist and anti-Semite Mohammed El-Kurd. The AMCHA Initiative has long tracked how universities with an SJP chapter are much more likely to have anti-Semitic incidents on campus.
College campuses have become fertile ground for extreme fundamentalist governments including Qatar and Saudi Arabia to pour over $1 billion to influence the next generation of students. Leading schools which have taken their money include Columbia University, Tufts University, the University of Southern California, George Washington University, NYU, MIT, Harvard, Georgetown and Carnegie Mellon. The Arab states have used their oil wealth to export the demonization of the Jewish State and Jews around the world.
And the impetus for exporting their hatred onto American shores is their hatred for Israel. Killing the Jewish State’s strongest supporter is a key aim of anti-Zionists.
Israel’s Fight Against Anti-Semitism in America
It is noble and appreciated that Israel is taking up the fight against global anti-Semitism.
Minister Chikli, you talked about the diaspora community and suggested that small communities might be best served by making aliyah to Israel, and plan on investing a good portion of your 500 million NIS budget in the education of the larger communities. This is wise. While it will be difficult for Israel to match the dollars of the Muslim Gulf states going into America’s leading universities, it can invest in the middle and high schools of the United States’ largest Jewish cities.
America’s Jews and communities are mostly well-off and well-organized. We have numerous Jewish schools, synagogues, community centers and Israel advocacy groups, especially compared to the other countries in the diaspora. But there are things that must come from Israel to the various cities listed above to help fight the rising anti-Semitism. Here is the start of a list:
Israelis and Israeli products in the schools and markets
Collaboration between American universities and companies and those in Israel
Eloquent and well versed Israelis on news channels
Establish pro-Jewish narratives
Bi-partisanship, connecting with all streams of Judaism
Open and clear communication between Israel and U.S. Jewish leaders
Israelis and Israeli products in the schools and markets
Getting young Israelis into cities across the United States with programs like shinshinim should be expanded. The Israelis get a better appreciation for America, and Americans get a first-hand account of what is happening in Israel, not from the news or textbooks, but from young Israelis living in the Jewish State.
The BDS (boycott, divest and sanction) movement against Israel should not only be fought legally but on the ground. Getting lots of Israeli products and brands into stores should be a priority of the Israeli government, not just the Israeli companies.
Collaboration between American universities and companies and those in Israel
Israeli universities and companies are in a good position to continue to leverage their leading research and technological prowess to collaborate with American institutions. An active bi-lateral flow of human and financial capital can cement positive long-term relationships.
Eloquent and well versed Israelis on American media
Israel must develop a comprehensive team of fluent English speakers who are adept at public relations on a range of topics. The most glaring problems are when Israeli spokespersons cannot handle basic questions on television when Israel is in a conflict. The government must have a team of people in constant dialogue with the full range of American media on political, economic, cultural, religious, historical and scientific matters.
Establish pro-Jewish narratives
It is very important to establish and correct information that is being propagated in the media and on campuses, but the Israeli government must do more to craft the narratives. For example, not only should the statistics about the Arab population in Jerusalem and Israel be laid out to dismiss the ridiculous charges of genocide and ethnic cleansing, but stories of real people should be featured. The world loves a good story, and Israel is more than capable of humanizing the liberal country it has built in the heart of the illiberal Middle East.
Bi-partisanship, connecting with all streams of Judaism
As described above, there are Democratic and Republican Jews and they live in a range of cities. It is imperative for Israel to maintain good relations with both parties, ESPECIALLY as the divide in the country grows.
Similarly, it is important for Israel to connect with all the streams of Judaism which are much more common in the United States than in Israel and the rest of the diaspora. The Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative branches of Judaism are much larger than the Modern and Ultra Orthodox streams. Those liberals tend to be much more critical of religious and nationalistic actions by Israel, while the more Orthodox tend to be more likely to make aliyah. Israel needs to keep a good relationship with each community.
Open and clear communication between Israel and U.S. Jewish leaders
The last item on this short list is for good lines of direct communication. If the government of Israel is directly communicating with American Jewish leaders, hopefully it will prevent Jewish leaders from lobbying the U.S. government to take actions against Israel, as J Street did aggressively, in pushing the Obama Administration to allow UN Security Council Resolution 2334 to pass.
Israel is at a very sensitive moment in history with Iran on the verge of obtaining nuclear weapons capability, and the largest percentage of West Bank Arabs itching for violence against Jewish civilians in twenty years. At the same time, American Jewry is more divided as it faces growing anti-Semitism, a break from historic norms when Jews normally come together when faced with Jew hatred.
The global fight against anti-Semitism can be won with Israeli and American forces acting together with common purpose. We look forward to working together with you at this important time in history.
Anti-Semites around the world suffer terribly. Consumed by hatred for Jews, they often feel that their sentiments need a broader outlet. They seek the comradery of others who despise Jews, and public forums to attack those they believe are stains on mankind.
In February 2023 in Orlando, FL, Neo Nazis stood outside a Chabad house and taunted Jews with chants of ‘Heil Hitler’, and asked how many Jews could fit in a barbecue grill and how many Palestinian Arabs they killed. White Supremacist groups called for February 25, 2023 to be a ‘Day of Hate‘ to gather momentum for attacks on Jews.
Consider when Israel rebuilt the Hurva Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem in 2010 which the Jordanian army had blown up in 1949. Palestinians called for a ‘Day of Rage‘ with hundreds of Palestinian Arabs attacking Jews. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (I guess meaning only for Arabs) released a statement which “strongly condemns recent measures taken by Israel in East Jerusalem, the latest of which has been the inauguration of a synagogue in the old city. PCHR holds Israel responsible for the escalation of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory.“
The sick symmetry.
Neo Nazis come for Jews in their houses of worship in the United States because they hate the presence of Jews in their goal of a purely White Christian society. Radical Islamists come for Jews in their synagogues in Israel because they believe the land is purely Muslim. Both sinister radical groups consider Jews to be vile whose basic physical presence is an affront to their sensibilities to be fought en masse.
David Duke, the Grand Wizard of the KKK reached out to radical jihadists like Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to join forces against the Jews. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) invoked Nazi stereotypes about the Jews seemingly in an effort to reach out to Nazis.
The United Nations and global media have rightfully denounced the Neo Nazis but have pathetically rallied to support anti-Semitic Muslims. The Nazis and jihadists don’t care, and will bond together to attack the most persecuted minority in the world. Perhaps they will unite under the banner of radical jihadists, who have wrongfully gathered global sympathies with abundant resources.
At least until the Islamic State of Iran initiates its own genocide of Jews.
Neo Nazis (with no government and media support) and Islamic radicals (with tremendous government and media support) are rallying fellow anti-Semites to take on the Jews wherever they live and pray. White Supremacists have joined the global jihad against the same Jewish infidels while the world considers which dead Jews deserved it.
The Abraham Accords struck between Israel and several Arab Muslim countries including the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco in 2020, have continued to advance the cause of peaceful coexistence.
On February 20, 2023, the U.A.E. invited many Jewish guests to be part of the opening ceremony of the first new synagogue in a Muslim country in generations. The Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue is part of the multi-faith Abrahamic Family House complex in Abu Dhabi which also includes a mosque and a church. The three places of worship sit beside one another in an effort to show harmony between the different faiths.
Beyond the proximity of each house of worship, the architects took care in designing each building: the mosque faces the Islamic holy city of Mecca, the church faces east towards the rising sun, and the synagogue faces Jerusalem, Judaism’s holist city.
Abrahamic Family Complex in Abu Dhabi, UAE
On that same February day, the United Nations took the polar opposite approach towards religious coexistence as the U.N. Security Council issued a statement condemning Jews and Judaism.
The official statement was a litany of complaints on the presence of Jews in their holy land. It expressed “strong opposition” to Jews building homes east of the 1949 Armistice Lines (E49AL). It condemned Israel’s killing Islamic terrorists planning attacks on Jewish civilians. It demanded that Jews continue to be forbidden from praying at the holiest site on the Jewish Temple Mount. And it urged that Jews and Christians take a backseat to Muslims when the holidays of Ramadan, Easter and Passover overlap this year, prioritizing Muslim access to Jerusalem over believers of the other faiths.
Remarkably, the “most right-wing government in Israeli history” as portrayed in the media, acquiesced to the anti-Semitic proposals. The Israeli government said that it would keep the “status quo” of banning Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount and would ban Jews from the site during the last ten days of Ramdan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also reportedly told the United States that it won’t authorize new Jewish towns in E49AL for the next few months and will limit incursions into Palestinian Authority towns to arrest terrorists.
While the United Arab Emirates works for religious coexistence, the United Nations works to foment religious animosity and segregation. If there’s a future for peace and coexistence in the region, it will run through the U.A.E. and not the U.N..
The New York Times did a series on the Ultra-Orthodox schools and how they “fail and steal tax dollars on purpose.” The hit pieces were designed to show that the schools bilk taxpayers of hundreds of millions of dollars and then fail to teach basic subjects like English and math.
All of the work was done by Times researchers and the data is therefore their own, as are their conclusions.
So it with interest to read a report from WalletHub that ranked “2023’s Most & Least Educated States in America.” While New York came in at #14, WBLK posted the New York districts with the worst college graduation rates. The bottom five were:
Mount Pleasant-Cottage Union Free (Westchester County) – 6% Graduation Rate In 2022
Kendall Central (Orleans County) – 3% Graduation Rate In 2022
Kiryas Joel Village Union Free (Orange County) – 0% Graduation Rate In 2022
Greenburgh-Graham Union Free (Westchester County) – 0% Graduation Rate In 2022
Mount Pleasant-Blythedale Union Free (Westchester County) – 0% Graduation Rate In 2022
Tied for the bottom was Kiryas Joel, seemingly confirming the conclusion of the New York Times, that Hasidic schools are failing with 0% of the students graduating college.
It is curious that the school wasn’t an outlier but had company of non-Hasidic school districts, which begs further inspection.
Students in Kiryas Joel
Mount Pleasant-Blythedale is a school set up inside a children’s hospital, enabling sick students to learn. According to U.S. News, the school has 126 students which are 70% minority. All of the teachers are certified and about 91% have at least three years of experience. The test scores show about 10% of the students proficient in math and 10% in Reading. The cost per student is roughly $55,000.
Greenburgh-Graham school district was established to help students who were failing in other schools due to academic or emotional challenges. The school is estimated to have around 300 students with a 1:1 student ratio. U.S. News does not have a breakdown of the students but shares that 75% of the students have Reading proficiency but no data on mathematics. The cost per student is roughly $210,000.
Before getting to the statistics on the Ultra-Orthodox school, a review of the other two non-religious schools is worthwhile for comparative purposes.
Kendall is a large school district with 712 students according to U.S. News, of which 10% are minority and almost 49% are economically disadvantaged. All of the teachers are certified and 97.5% have three or more years of experience. The student: teacher ratio is 10:1. The district has elementary, middle and high schools with mathematics and reading scores in each that are higher than state averages, and has a very different message than WalletHub, showing a 92.7% high school graduation rate. If only 3% are graduating college, it likely means many cannot afford to attend. The cost per student is about $26,000.
Mount Pleasant-Cottage school district was set up for students with emotional and cognitive disabilities. According to U.S. News, there are 116 students of which 92% are minority. Only 93% of the teachers are certified, 66% have more than three years of experience and the student-teacher ratio is 6-to-1. The students showed a 5% and 10% proficiency in math and English, respectively, way below the state averages. No data on costs.
As seen above, the state provides special schools for students with needs – whether emotional, physical or cognitive. Many of the students with these challenges perform below the general population in reading and math.
So, now consider Kiryas Joel.
The school district was established to help the emotional and cognitively challenged students of the Satmar sect of Hasidic Jews in 1989. People in the town sued over its establishment in a case that went to the Supreme Court in 1994, in which the judges concluded that the creation of a distinctly Jewish school district ran afoul of the establishment clause regarding religion.
The court said nothing about the need for a school to service students with special needs. Eventually the school district prevailed and was established in 1999.
According to U.S. News, there are 121 students, all of whom are White. All of the teachers are certified and 87.5% have three or more years of experience. The student-teacher ratio is 5:1, below the state average of 14:1. The students show a 75% proficiency in math and 75% in English, far above the state averages and the other schools profiled above. The cost per student is about $253,000. Compared to the other schools, it gets much more federal and state funding.
Note: the data from the National Center for Education Statistics is quite different. For example, Greenburgh-Graham UFSD shows a cost per student of $394,000, not $210,000. This was above that of Kiryas Joel at $340,000 per student.
While the students in Kiryas Joel do not go on to secular college (and therefore score a 0% in the WalletHub ranking), the school is performing relatively well by every measure compared to its peers.
Despite the data, The New York Times performed an extensive analysis in which the secular paper concluded that Ultra-Orthodox Jews were sucking money out of the public school system and refusing to educate their students. The paper pushed for a thorough governmental review of the Jewish schools, but not any of the non-Jewish ones at the bottom of the WalletHub list. The Times did not devote any resources to examine why the Greenburgh-Graham UFSD spends much more per student than Kiryas Joel.
The New York Times is trying its best to inflame anti-Jewish emotions with a series of articles that make ultra-Orthodox Jews appear to steal money from public schools
New York State established many school districts for students with emotional, cognitive and physical needs, and makes a special effort for those with economic hardship. In the Ultra-Orthodox town of Kiryas Joel, where 40% of the population is below the poverty level (poverty level is correlated with size of family and the Haredi community has very large families), the 120 students in the special public school district are showing that they can excel, despite what the mainstream media is reporting.
The United Nations has summarized its thoughts about Jews in Jerusalem, and it’s appalling.
On February 12, 2023, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sent a message to a conference held in Cairo, Egypt called “Supporting the City of Jerusalem and its Population.” By the term “its Population,” the leader of the UN made clear he only supports the Arab Muslim population, not the Jewish one. He admitted as much in his opening statement about the “challenges faced by the Palestinian population in Jerusalem.” Presumably, the term Palestinian population refers to those Arabs who have not opted to take Israeli citizenship which has been offered to all law-abiding Arabs in the city.
It clearly didn’t mean Jews.
Guterres continued:
“Jerusalem — Al-Quds is not only a treasured home for so many — it also holds a unique place in the hearts of millions of Muslims, Jews and Christians the world over.“
Jerusalem is ONLY the holiest city for Jews. Minimizing the Jewish connection to the city after an opening comment showing unique concern for the challenges of non-Jews, reveals the jaundiced mindset of the global leader.
“As we have seen time and again, what happens in Jerusalem reverberates globally — and tensions, incitement and violence often spill into wider instability.“
Jews have been a majority in Jerusalem since the 1860s. However, the Jordanian Army ethnically cleansed the Jews out of the eastern portion of Jerusalem including the entirety of the the Old City, and forbade Jews from even visiting their holy sites from 1949 to 1967. The world remained completely silent about the abuse to Jewish human rights, even in the shadow of the European genocide of Jews.
Now, Jews once again control the eastern portion of Jerusalem after Israel defended itself from the attacking Jordanian army in 1967. The current Jewish presence sickens the anti-Semitic Arab Muslims who shout that “al Aqsa is in danger.” Outrageously, the United Nations echoes their sentiments, further inflaming the region.
“It is therefore imperative that all parties exercise restraint and refrain from provocations, inflammatory actions and rhetoric. I am very concerned by the unilateral initiatives that we have seen in recent weeks.“
Refraining “from provocations, inflammatory actions and rhetoric” makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, the head of the U.N. has a perverse idea of what that constitutes, as can be seen in his next comment.
“The position of the United Nations is clear: The status of Jerusalem cannot be altered by unilateral actions, including settlement activities in occupied East Jerusalem; it can only be resolved through negotiations between the parties.“
Perhaps the U.N. does not accept Israel’s annexation of the eastern portion of Jerusalem, as the global body had sought that Greater Jerusalem and Greater Bethlehem be held under an international regime in the 1947 Partition Plan. But the Jordanians drastically altered the character of the city when it expelled every Jew, destroyed every synagogue, banned Jews from entering the city, illegally annexed it and granted any non-Jew citizenship. Reversing the anti-Semitic Jordanian actions is not altering the city with “unilateral actions, including settlement activities”, but reestablishing the Jewish presence in the Jewish holy city that had been unilaterally destroyed by the anti-Semitic Jordanian regime.
While Israel tries to establish a final resolution to the Arab-Israel conflict, it is absurd to demand that the city be frozen in time – only as it relates to Jews and to that period when Jews were ethnically cleansed. It is the capital city of Israel with an enormous demand for housing. How can the U.N. advocate for Arab housing in the city but not for Jewish homes?
“Jerusalem’s demographic and historical character must be preserved — and the status quo at the Holy Sites must be upheld, in line with the special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.“
If Jerusalem has been 75% Jewish in 2020, 2000, 1980, 1960 or 1940, is that the fixed percentage of the demographic character of the city that must be preserved? No city in the world has a fixed demographic character. To suggest that the demographic and historical character should relate to the eighteen years that Jordan banned the presence of Jews would be an endorsement of ethnic cleansing.
Which is what Guterres seems to have done, in calling for the anti-Semitic Jordanians to have a special role “at the Holy Sites.” The Jordanian Waqf ONLY has a special role in regards to Muslim holy sites such as the al Aqsa Mosque. It has no special role on the overall Temple Mount which is a Jewish holy site. In falsely giving the Waqf a greater role than was agreed upon in the 1994 Peace Agreement between Israel and Jordan, the U.N. chief is inflaming the situation and going directly against his own words: ignoring an agreement reached between the parties.
“The United Nations remains committed to help Israelis and Palestinians chart a credible path forward: Towards an end of the occupation; towards two States living side by side with Jerusalem as the capital of both; towards lasting security, peace and dignity for all. Thank you. Shukran.“
All of Guterres’ comments show a disregard for Jewish Israelis, so the call out of helping Israelis is a polite lie thinly spread on a mountain of scorn.
There is no “occupation” in Jerusalem. It was never Palestinian nor was it ever intended to be part of an Arab state, but part of an international “corpus separatum.”
If the parties are to negotiate a solution between themselves, then declaring the outcome of Jerusalem being a shared capital undermines the very principle of negotiation. The parties themselves will determine what they find acceptable.
Note that Israel has already advanced the sharing of Corpus Separatum, when it handed Bethlehem to the Palestinian Authority in 1996. The sharing of the holy basin has already been accomplished.
If the U.N. cared about Jewish dignity, it would INSIST upon Jewish prayer rights on the Jewish Temple Mount, not calling for banning Jews.
The head of the United Nations called for banning Jews from the Old City of Jerusalem and denying them basic human rights and dignity to pray at their holiest location. He has sadly become an ugly tool of radical jihadists, and an enemy of Jews.
The U.N.’s desire to impose sharia law in Jerusalem offers no justice nor dignity for Jews. The agency has broken its social contract with the Jewish State, and its heartless shell is but a conduit for overt anti-Semitism.
The United Nations marked the “International Day for the Prevention of Violent Extremism as and when Conducive to Terrorism” on February 12, 2023. To mark the occasion, the head of the U.N., Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres condemned the scourge when he led that “Terrorism is an affront to humanity.”
It is indeed heinous and evil to the core.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, January 2023
The leader of the global body unfortunately then went woke and counterfactual when he called out only one variety of the evil: neo-Nazis.
“Terrorist and violent extremist groups are finding fertile ground on the Internet to spew their vicious venom. Neo-Nazi, white supremacist movements are becoming more dangerous by the day. They now represent the number one internal security threat in several countries — and the fastest growing.“
The neo-Nazis and White Supremacist movements are absolutely evil and dangerous. But they are a small fraction of violent extremism that has infected the world.
In 2020, an estimated 22,847 people were killed by terrorism, below the previous decade annual average of roughly 26,000 deaths. The leading countries were Afghanistan; Nigeria; Congo; and Ethiopia by a wide margin. The countries with the next highest number of deaths from terrorism were Syria; Yemen; Somalia; Mozambique; Burkina Faso; Mali and Iraq.
The data for 2021 from another source listed the worst countries as: Afghanistan; Iraq; Somalia; Burkina Faso; Syria; Nigeria; Mali; Niger; Pakistan; Cameroon; India and Mozambique. An almost identical set of countries.
It may not surprise anyone that the none of these murders were from Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists. By far, the leading cause of deaths from terrorism every year is from the noxious evil of radical Islam.
The leading cause of deaths from terrorism every year is from the noxious evil of radical Islam
The world is so cowed by the power of radical Islamic jihadists that it refuses to confront it, let alone call it out directly. Instead, it bows to its master, as over 25% of the United Nations’ member countries have a Muslim majority which may not take kindly to being called out. So the timid Portuguese U.N. Secretary General gives them cover and beats up Europeans and other western countries.
It is time to admit that the United Nations is hopelessly broken, when it becomes a vehicle to protect the worst regimes in the world.
It is time to admit that the United Nations is hopelessly broken, when it becomes a vehicle to protect the worst regimes in the world.
As we watch Islamic extremism kill tens of thousands of people and decimate societies every year, we bicker about White supremacy and nationalism. It is through that jaundiced lens that leftists at the United Nations and mainstream media berate Israel, blind to the radical jihadist neighbors attempting to destroy the Jewish State, and acutely sensitive to a false notion of White Israeli Privilege (when less than one-third of Israelis are Ashkenazi Jews).
The New York Times wrote an article about the massive number of migrants from Latin America coming first into Texas, then New York, and ultimately bused to Canada. It relayed the scary journey in search of a better life.
The harrowing trip concluded with a quote from a woman who traversed the many miles upon arriving in Canada, “‘This is going to be our Israel,’ Mrs. Ramirez said.” I’m sure she meant it in a positive way: that she had finally arrived in a safe haven, away from the tumult that had been her life. She considered herself like the Jews who had escaped the war in Europe, and arrived in the land of Israel.
Her universalizing the Jews and making her trek to her own “Promised Land” was not sinister but her trivialization calls for her education, and a re-education of the world regarding three important differentiators between refugees and migrants generally, and the unique story of the Jews.
Jews Were a Targeted Minority
Tens of millions of people from Latin America are seeking a better life, away from gang violence, broken economies, poverty and political corruption. Almost every citizen from the region is seeking peace and security that their native countries do not provide.
That is in sharp contrast to Jews.
The Jews who came to Israel from Europe around the Holocaust were specifically targeted for annihilation. They were not simply war refugees like millions of others who fled battle grounds but a persecuted minority ear-marked for ethnic cleansing.
The Jews from Arab Muslim lands were persecuted from the 1950s through 1980s, with governmental decrees and street pogroms. The general public did not flee their home countries in search of something better; they sought something better by driving Jews from their midst.
So it was in Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere. Jews were singled out for persecution and had a particular need for salvation.
Israel is The Jewish Homeland
Venezuelans arriving in Canada have no roots in the land. They could have unpacked their bags as easily in Texas or Toronto.
But Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel. They have thousands of years of well-known history, including kings and judges who ruled in the land.
Further, Judaism is a unique religion which is tied to a specific piece of land. It is a particular religion for a specific people with commandments which can only be kept in their holy land.
The Need for Sovereignty
The migrants from around Latin America will be happy to settle in Seattle or Saskatchewan. They have no aspirations to remake their new countries, and will be happy to become Americans or Canadians. They just want rights and self-determination, and have no vision of transforming their new governments.
Not so for Jews in Israel.
Because of the persistence of anti-Semitism around the globe for centuries, modern Zionism concluded that Jews need more than a safe haven. Jews must be able to determine their future under a Jewish flag. History has shown that self determination without sovereignty would only yield a temporary respite from anti-Semitism.
Zionism is not a rally of charged nationalism but the reality born from relentless persecution.
Zionism is not a rally of charged nationalism but the reality born from relentless persecution.
First One Through
The story of the Jewish people and their Promised Land is captured in the most widely read book, replayed globally over the last two millennia. While migrants and refugees echoing those verses for personal reflection might therefore feel natural, remembering the uniqueness of the Jewish journey to the re-established Jewish State might curb the anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism roaring around the world once more.
Hussein Khaled Qaraqe, a 31 year old Palestinian Arab, rammed his car into a crowd of Israeli Jews on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath in the Jews’ holiest city of Jerusalem on February 10, 2023. He killed a six year old and a 20 year old man who had just gotten married, and injured several others.
While the world was outraged and strongly condemned the attack, including the United States which issued a statement that the “deliberate targeting of innocent civilians is repugnant and unconscionable,” Palestinians celebrated and defended the killings of Jewish civilians.
Hamas, the popular political-terrorist group which governs Gaza and holds a majority of Palestinian parliament, issued a statement under the banner “Hamas mourns Palestinian killed by Israeli occupation troops in occupied Jerusalem.” The article wrote “The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas mourns Palestinian resistance fighter Hussein Qaraqe’, 31, who was killed by the Israeli occupation forces near the colonial settlement of ‘Ramat’ in occupied Jerusalem on Friday. Hamas reiterates that the Palestinian people will continue to resist the Israeli occupation forces and colonial settlers’ crimes against the defenseless citizens of the occupied West Bank and the racist policy of home demolition.”
>> Recall that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) compared Israel and the United States to this repugnant and racist genocidal regime, and every Democrat – including Jews – in the House of Representatives sought to protect her from being ousted from the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Wafa, the official website of the Palestinian Authority under the leadership of Fatah, ran a story inverting the facts with the headline “Israeli settlers kill a Palestinian driver in occupied Jerusalem.” The article wrote “A Palestinian young man was shot dead today by Israeli settlers at Nabi Samuel junction in occupied Jerusalem, according to local sources. The family of Hussein Khaled Qaraqe, 30, said Israeli settlers opened gunfire at their son while he was driving his vehicle at the junction, critically injuring him. The young man was pronounced dead a few of minutes later.”
Ground News captured the overall Palestinian sentiment of the attack “Palestinians Celebrate Murder of Israelis in Terrorist Attack, Media Headlines Call Victims ‘Settlers’“
Palestinian sites featured pictures of the killer but not the Jewish victims
Outside of the Palestinians, several Muslim sites sought to inflame the situation.
Palm Strategic Initiatives wrote “Two Israeli settlers were reported killed and five others injured during a ramming attack in occupied Jerusalem. Israeli media reported that Palestinian youth Hussein Qaraqe’, 31, carried out a run-over attack in Ramout Israeli settlement in occupied Jerusalem.” Neither the six year Jewish victim nor the 20-year old was described in any fashion, while the 31-year old terrorist was described as a “youth.”
Al Mayadeen wrote that “Israeli media claim two illegal Israeli settlers were killed and five others were injured in a ramming operation into a bus stop in Al-Quds,” making Jewish civilians walking on the street the actual perpetrator of doing something “illegal.”
Hezbollah’s Al Manar wrote “Car Ramming Attack in Al-Quds City Kills Two Zionist Settlers, Critically Injures Seven Others.” The article led “A car ramming attack, carried out by a Palestinian who descends from Al-Issawiya town, left two Zionist settlers dead and critically injured seven others in Al-Quds City. Hussein Karaka, 31, rammed into a bus stop at the entrance to the Ramot neighborhood and hit 11 settlers, according to media reports.”
The left-wing Israeli media headed by Haaretz tried to explain away the terrorism. It ran a headline “Jerusalem Attacker Was Released From Psychiatric Ward Day Before Car Ramming, Family Says.” It pushed the narrative that the Palestinian terrorist was not really a perpetrator of violence as much as a victim of mental illness.
What has happened to the world?
It is illegal under international law to incite violence which the Palestinian leadership does openly. It is also illegal to finance terrorism, which the global community does in providing funds to the PA and Hamas.
It should perhaps not be shocking in this environment that a member of Congress normalized a genocidal jihadist regime, but shouldn’t we be appalled that Jews are defending this Congresswoman?
The killing of civilians is absolutely “repugnant and unconscionable,” and it is past time to hold the defenders of such atrocities to account.
In May 2021, President Joe Biden appointed Vice President Kamala Harris to be his ‘border czar’ to handle the illegal immigration at the southern border. Biden put his full faith in Harris saying “When she speaks, she speaks for me.”
Based on her bumbling responses in an interview with Lester Holt, Biden must have been mortified. When Holt asked whether she would visit the southern border, Harris said “We’ve been to the border. So this whole thing about the border — we’ve been to the border.” To which Holt correctly called out her lie with “you haven’t been to the border,” Harris offered “and I haven’t been to Europe,” with a chortle, in a pathetic response.
Despite Biden’s claim that his administration is doing a lot at the order, the numbers speak for themselves.
From December 2019 to December 2022, the number of land encounters with immigrants climbed OVER FIVE TIMES. Just in El Paso, from December 2021 to December 2022 the number of migrant encounters jumped 186%, as if the U.S. government has given up on the issue.
To give the 251,487 December 2022 figure some context, the United States welcomed 47,200 new legal citizens in December 2021 – the country now has over four times as many illegal citizens coming to the country as those it naturalizes. Overall, during the 2010s, the U.S. granted citizenship to 7.4 million people, averaging 740,000 per year. With Biden/Harris at the helm, there will likely be close to 3 million land border encounters just at the southern border in 2023.
The media tries to dress up Kamala Harris as being “frustrated” when she is simply grossly incompetent, to the detriment of both Americans and the millions of people from Latin America who are the victims of her ineptitude.
First One Through 