The Muslim American Community Gameplan For 2024 Presidential Election Is Beyond 2024

Posted on September 13, 2024 by First.One.Through

The Muslim American community is a rapidly growing segment of the United States. It is projected to surpass the Jewish community by 2040 and be entrenched as the second largest religious group, estimated to become 8.1 million by 2050, according to Pew Research.

Like the Jewish community, a major consideration in the group’s focus is the Middle East. For Muslims, the region holds the major Islamic centers of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, while for Jews it is the Jewish holy land of Israel.

Beyond the sanctity of the land are co-religionists. There are 1.8 billion Muslims, with 50 Muslim-majority countries, with most being in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. This compares to just 15 million Jews globally and a single Jewish country, Israel.

*Muslim population for Sunni and Shia (dark green), with Israel a dot in the middle*

In 2024, several Muslim countries and territories surrounding Israel are waging a war to destroy the Jewish State, and the United States has backed Israel in defending itself. This Iranian Axis-Israel war is weighing heavily on how Muslim Americans are thinking about the 2024 U.S. presidential elections.

The community has long been outraged by former President Trump’s anti-Islamic comments and angered by his strongly pro-Israel actions during his term from 2017 through 2020. Muslims were upset about his cutting funds to Palestinians, placing sanctions on Iran, and normalizing Israel into the Arab Middle East with the Abraham Accords.

But Muslim Americans are also disgusted with the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel fighting against Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. They cannot fathom voting for Harris in the upcoming presidential election, even as they view her more favorably than Trump.

Resigned to the fact that both candidates are not anti-Zionist, a significant part of the community has decided to send a message, and hopefully play spoiler in the upcoming presidential election, in the hope of drawing attention to their position to influence future elections.

The Turkish news site Andalu posted a talk featuring Islamic preachers and members of CAIR, the Council of American Islamic Relations. The discussion called for Muslim Americans to vote for third party candidates like Jill Stein and Cornel West. While they have no chance of winning, the aim is to make the two dominant political parties start to cater to their demands, especially in halting support for the Jewish State.

According to polls released by CAIR, the Muslim vote in Michigan and Wisconsin – two important swing states to securing the presidency – should have an enormous turnout for Stein. Their hope is to show the Democratic party that had they changed policy course on Israel, those votes could have been theirs. The Muslim American community would rather lose the election to Trump whom they despise, to influence the future direction of the Democratic Party, which is already infiltrated by members of the “Squad.”

*Middle East Eye report on Muslim Americans*

Donald Trump may win a larger percentage of the Jewish vote than any Republican nominee over the past cycles which might make him keep pro-Israel positions, but Muslims have a soft back-up hope that Trump will credit the Muslim community for abandoning Harris to help him secure the presidency.

While the vast majority of Americans don’t focus on foreign affairs as the primary concern in elections beyond the border crisis, the Muslim and Jewish communities are putting the Hamas-Israel war at the top of their list, and each group may tip the scales to Donald Trump for very different reasons. Jews will focus on continuing to support Israel in its war against genocidal jihadists, while Muslims will argue that the U.S. should abandon Israel and foreign policy and funding altogether, to let the Iranian axis devour the sole Jewish State.

The Jewish community is taking a very near-term view of the American presidential election, concerned about the terrible spike in antisemitism in the U.S. and the ring of evil attacking Israel right now. The Muslim community is playing the long game, and is willing to simply place a marker on the table in 2024 that they are an emerging force to be reckoned with.

*Hassan Abdel Salam who is a professor at the University of Minnesota heads a group called ‘Abandon Harris‘*

Jews are small in number with a single state and are beset by existential fear, so are pushing for immediate action. Meanwhile, the Muslim world has no existential worries, and can focus on the ultimate prize in which their numbers and power overwhelm American Jews, just as they encircle the Jewish State. In the near-term, they will work to infiltrate the educational system and overtake the Democratic Party to breed a new generation of socialist-jihadists who will normalize anti-Zionism and antisemitism.

It’s called the Insidious Jihad in America and is over five years old now. Imagine where the country will be in five more years.

The Future Of The Evil Hamas Regime Under Trump And Harris (September 2024)

Socialist-Jihadi Alliance Attempts To Make Israel A Wedge Issue For Jews (August 2024)

The Anti-Israel And Anti-American Woke Grows (July 2024)

Hamas, CAIR, DSA, Within Our Lifetime, SJP Are All Gunning For Jews (May 2024)

Trump Secures Lowest Tally of Israeli Deaths From Palestinian Terrorism (November 2020)

Trump Reverses the Carter and Obama Anti-Israel UN Resolutions (November 2019)

Rep. Ilhan Omar and The 2001 Durban Racism Conference (March 2019)

The United Nations Welcomes “Peace-Loving” Palestine

Posted on September 12, 2024 by First.One.Through

In the aftermath of the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, the United Nations decided that the killers are “peace-loving.”

On May 10, 2024, the United Nations voted and approved A/ES-10/L.30/Rev.1 which said “that membership in the United Nations is open to all peace-loving States,” and that Palestine fully qualifies. It endorsed Palestine as “peace-loving” despite Hamas committing a brutal slaughter of 1,200 people in Israel on October 7, as codified in its genocidal antisemitic charter which is embraced by Palestinians who elected the terrorist group to 58% of parliament in 2006.

The recorded vote was 143 in favour to 9 against (Argentina, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, United States), with 25 abstentions.

On September 10, 2024, Palestine took its seat at the General Assembly of the UN’s opening session. Delegates from around the world embraced the Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour.

Delegates of member states line up to greet Riyad Mansour, top right, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, as he arrives for the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, September 10, 2024 at the United Nations. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

The beheading of people is “peace-loving” if the victims are Jews. The burning of families alive is “peace-loving” if the family are Jews. The sexual abuse of women is “peace-loving” if the women are Jews. The abduction of babies as hostages is “peace-loving” if the infants are Jews.

So says the United Nations, an institution awash in moral rot which should be defunded and closed.

Time To Sentence The United Nations For Involuntary Manslaughter (April 2024)

Fire United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres (January 2024)

Palestinian Poll About October 7 Massacre (November 2023)

United Nations Urges ‘Utmost Restraint’ By Israel In Defending Synagogues On High Holidays (September 2023)

Palestinian Mothers Engage In Grotesque Prostitution Of Their Children (August 2023)

The United Nations’ Sinister Attack On The Jewish State As Part Of Holocaust Event (January 2023)

UN Human Rights Chief Wants Hamas To Have Greater Weaponry To Attack Israel

Posted on September 10, 2024 by First.One.Through

The UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, spoke in Geneva on September 8, 2024 and let it be known that the events of the past year in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank showed that Palestinians need to control their borders to satisfy their “causes.”

At (14:20) of his talk, Turk said:

“We know that wars spill over, and into, future generations, fostering repeated cycles of hatred if their causes remain unaddressed.

Sadly, the war in Gaza is the quintessential example.

Since the horrific 7 October attacks claimed the lives of over 1,200 victims in Israel and injured many others, over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, several thousand injured, and thousands remain under the rubble in Gaza. Each day, Palestinians struggle to survive. Nearly 1.9 million people have been forcibly displaced across the strip, many multiple times. Eleven months on, 101 Israeli hostages are still held to be in Gaza. While the actual number is likely higher, almost 10,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons or ad hoc military facilities, many arbitrarily, with over 50 people having died due to inhumane conditions and ill-treatment. In the West Bank, deadly and destructive operations, some at a scale not witnessed in the last two decades, are worsening a calamitous situation there, already aggravated by serious settler violence.

Ending that war and averting a full-blown regional conflict is an absolute and urgent priority. Equally, the wider situation of illegality across the occupied Palestinian territory deriving from Israel’s policies and practices, as so clearly spelled out by the International Court of Justice in its Advisory Opinion in July, must be comprehensively addressed.

States must not – cannot – accept blatant disregard for international law, including binding decisions of the Security Council and orders of the International Court of Justice, neither in this nor any other situation.“

The head of the UN Human Rights did not ascribe the murder of 1,200 people in Israel and holding of over 100 hostages to Palestinians. He did not state that Palestinians launched the war nor that they executed bound hostages. He used passive language to describe Israeli victims. Yet he did blame Israeli forces and “settler violence” for the deaths of Palestinians.

Turk ascribed the situation of the “repeated cycles of hatred” from the “illegality” of Israel’s policies regarding “Palestinian territory.”

Ignoring Hamas’s genocidal intent of destroying Israel, Palestinians broad support for killing Israeli civilians, and the thousands of Palestinian Arabs committing the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust was not an oversight, nor was attributing the “cause” to “Israel’s policies and practices.”

The UN’s agenda is to fully arm an antisemitic Palestinian state next to the only Jewish State.

Gazans have had self-determination and independence since 2005 when Israel uprooted every civilian and military personnel from the area. The Palestinians had elections which brought the terrorist group Hamas to 58% of the parliament in 2006. Gazans used this freedom to build a vast tunnel infrastructure and war machine rather than build an economy, as they do not simply seek self-determination but a destruction of the Jewish State.

Gazans were able to commit a massive heinous butchering of men, women and children in Israel with a blockade surrounding the terrorist enclave. The United Nations turns a blind eye to the savagery as they perceive the Arab assailants as victims.

The UN wants the Israeli blockade of Gaza lifted so Hamas can have a free flow of advanced weaponry from the Islamic Republic of Iran and other terrorist groups. With such armorment, the root “cause” of Palestinian Arabs – the destruction of the Jewish State – may be realized.

Time To Sentence The United Nations For Involuntary Manslaughter (April 2024)

Fire United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres (January 2024)

United Nations Declares Jews May Not Judge (November 2023)

The United Nations Fails Own Resolution To Combat Terrorism (October 2023)

Abbas Pays Tribute To Murderers Of Jews Before The United Nations General Assembly, To Applause (September 2023)

Amid The Terror, The United Nations Elevates Hamas (April 2022)

Why Blockade Gaza (November 2021)

To Serve Jews, United Nations Style (February 2020)

The United Nations Tackles Fake News Instead of Fake Rights (May 2019)

The United Nations Can Hear the Songs of Gazans, but Cannot See Their Rockets (December 2017)

The United Nations’ Incitement to Violence (August 2017)

UN’s Confusion on the Legality of Israel’s Blockade of Gaza (July 2015)

The “N-word” And “Free Palestine”

Posted on September 8, 2024 by First.One.Through

Facebook’s parent company Meta announced that it will permit the phrase “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free” on its platform despite protests from groups that it is a call for the mass genocide of Israeli Jews. Meta’s Oversight Board sided with pro-Palestinian groups which argued that it is simply an expression for equal rights for all Arabs in the region.

The decision stemmed from three situations in which the phrase was used on the platform, and concluded that “the three pieces of content contain contextual signs of solidarity with Palestinians – but no language calling for violence or exclusion. They also do not glorify or even refer to Hamas, an organization designated as dangerous by Meta,” suggesting that only when the phrase is used connecting to calls for violence will the language be banned from the platform. Or stated differently, the expression itself is benign, and it is only the calls for violence that will cause censorship, as “the phrase’s use by this terrorist group [Hamas] with explicit violent eliminationist intent and actions, does not make the phrase inherently hateful or violent – considering the variety of people using the phrase in different ways,” the board said.

In short, Meta decided to side with pro-Palestinians over Zionists and Jews who view the phrase as an open call for the genocide of Jews.

It is interesting to compare that phrase to the “N-word” which is also used a wide variety of contexts.

Many Black musicians use the word in their songs. The Black comedian Dave Chappelle uses the N-word repeatedly in his shows, both for Black people or White people. These artists are seemingly given a pass as they themselves use the derogatory term. Chappelle mocked such sensitivity openly and defiantly.

Yet the NAACP voted to ban the word in 2007 and issued a follow-up statement in 2014 which clarified the reasons to block the term, including by artists:

“the stigma of this word embodies and invokes painful memories and inhumane ill-will; and countless individuals including NAACP freedom fighters, have lost their lives due to the beliefs perpetuated by the use of this word.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People shall not condone, award, or engage any person that uses the N-word in any capacity, or in any artistic endeavor that does not allude to the historical context of the word, or that does not highlight the prejudicial nature of the word; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People implement the following actions to reinforce its ban on the use of the N-word issued in 2007 and bolster education and awareness about the offensiveness of the word across racial and generational lines: Make the ban reinforcement a top civil rights priority for all units; and urge every youth unit in consultation with their corresponding adult branch develop a plan of action for implementation. Plan must include internal branch affirmation, public awareness, community outreach and a reporting process. In places where no active youth unit exists, the adult unit would be held to the same said requirement.”

While the corresponding derogatory term for Jews, the K-word, might be a better comparable to the N-word for Black people, it is not the antisemitic phrase that has often accompanied the slaughter of Jews.

“Free Palestine” is shouted at Jews on streets, painted on their synagogues and while they dine in restaurants. It is the placard hoisted at rallies in front of Jewish institutions and Hillels on college campuses. It is a taunt and threat, accompanied by the slogan “by any means necessary,” including burning Jews alive, as Palestinians brutality did en masse on October 7, 2023, to wild Arab support.

On October 26, 2023, not long after the barbaric attack on Israel, the Anti Defamation League (ADL), issued a statement that clearly tied the “Free Palestine” phrase to antisemitism:

“‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ is an antisemitic slogan commonly featured in anti-Israel campaigns and chanted at demonstrations.

This rallying cry has long been used by anti-Israel voices, including supporters of terrorist organizations such as Hamas and the PFLP, which seek Israel’s destruction through violent means. It is fundamentally a call for a Palestinian state extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, territory that includes the State of Israel, which would mean the dismantling of the Jewish state. It is an antisemitic charge denying the Jewish right to self-determination, including through the removal of Jews from their ancestral homeland.

Usage of this phrase has the effect of making members of the Jewish and pro-Israel community feel unsafe and ostracized. It is important to note that demanding justice for Palestinians, or calling for a Palestinian state, should not mean, as this hateful phrase posits, denying the right of the State of Israel to exist.”

The Jewish victims of attack do not ask for “context” when people use the “Free Palestine” phrase; they know that more Jews “lost their lives due to the beliefs perpetuated by the use of this word” than any time since the Holocaust.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on HR 883 in April 2024 to label the phrase as antisemitic by a wide 377 to 44 margin. It specifically stated that “the slogan, ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’, is outrightly antisemitic and must be strongly condemned;” and “this slogan perpetuates hatred against the State of Israel and the Jewish people.” Notable anti-Israel squad members Bowman, Bush, Dingell, Barbara Lee, AOC, Omar, Pocan, Schakowsky, Tlaib, Velazquez and Waters voted against the resolution.

Society has so internalized the Black community’s objection to a hateful word that it cannot be uttered nor written. Yet calling for the genocide of Jews has been given a passing grade at universities, and a green light on social media.

ACTION ITEM

Contact ADL and your member of Congress to pressure the group to demand Meta change its policy regarding the genocidal phrase “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free.” Mark the phrase with the same opprobrium as the N-word.

Bewildered (May 2024)

The Hangman’s Noose For Jews, Held Aloft And Chanted On College Campuses (April 2024)

University Presidents’ Congressional Hearing On Antisemitism Prioritized Muslim Community (January 2024)

The Scale And Barbarity Of The Hamas Massacre (October 2023)

Heinrich Himmler’s Heirs, “Freedom Loving Arabs” (November 2021)

Excerpt of Hamas Charter to Share with Your Elected Officials (May 2021)

Palestineism is Toxic Racism (August 2019)

“Free Israel” and the New Pro-Zionist Placards (December 2018)

Racist Calls of Apes and Pigs? Forget Rosanne. Let’s Talk Islam (June 2018)

Revisionist Anti-Israel History At UN Security Council

Posted on September 6, 2024 by First.One.Through

If there is one subject and one region of the planet that everyone likes to opine on, it is the State of Israel. Even countries thousands of miles away with no Jews take the microphone at the United Nations and tell their version of history: how Israel is a vicious force intent on taking over the Middle East.

On September 4, 2024, Guyana’s (population of roughly 800,000 in South America) representative to the United Nations spoke to the UN Security Council about the Palestinian-Israeli war. At (1:24:45), she made the following observation:

“Mr. President, it is worth reminding that the situation in Palestine today did not begin on 7 October, 2023. We must cast our minds back to 1948, because it was in that year that Israel first violently rejected the two-state solution. Since then, the violent rejection has continued, manifest in cycles of war and ever expanding settlement activities inter alia. What we have seen since the 7th of October, are the symptoms of this rejection of the two-state solution.”

The most powerful committee at the United Nations listened to a small South American country fictionalize history and invert reality: that it was the Zionists who rejected the two-state solution, not the Arab world; that it was the nascent state of Israel that launched the 1948 war, not five Arab armies; that it is the Jewish State that rejects two states leading to the October 7 massacre, not the antisemitic jihadi terrorist group Hamas which has sworn to destroy every inch of the Jewish State.

*Representative of Guyana addressing the UN Security Council on September 4, 2024*

The United Nations is systemically anti-Israel and antisemitic, and member states freely falsify history to defend their attacks against the Jewish State. In a world of “my truths,” instead of facts, how can a small minority group withstand the onslaught of unmoored lies?

ACTION ITEM

Write the office of the Prime Minister of Guyana at opm@opm.gov.gy and of foreign affairs at minfor@guyana.net.gy and tell them that the country’s representative at the United Nations lied repeatedly before the Security Council and inverted facts that it is the Arab world which has rejected the Jewish State, not as she presented history.

UN Secretary General Accuses Israel Of “Islamophobia War” (March 2024)

Israel And Jews Everywhere Must Be Protected As An Ethnic, Religious And Linguistic Minority (September 2022)

Bad Education: Al Jazeera (September 2020)

The Palestinian’s Three Denials (January 2017)

The Legal Israeli Settlements (December 2014)

A Milestone For US Recognition Of Foreign Terrorist Groups

Posted on September 1, 2024 by First.One.Through

The world is a deeply unhinged place.

Extremist groups on the right and left are winning elections. Wars are raging around the world including Russia-Ukraine and Iranian proxies of Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis against Israel. And new terrorist groups continue to emerge like the Palestinian’s Tulkarm Brigades and Lion’s Den.

Yet one would not know this from tracking how the United States designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).

Since the U.S. State Department began listing FTOs on October 8, 1997, every Democratic and Republican administration was on top of the global terrorist threats, adding new FTOs with regularity. The longest gap between designating a new FTO was 992 days, from June 17, 2005 to March 5, 2008.

Until now.

The Biden administration last added a terrorist group on December 1, 2021, 1,005 days ago when it added two Colombia-based terrorist groups. Since that time it delisted five groups.

*U.S. State Department Foreign Terrorist Organizations*

Why hasn’t the U.S. listed any of the groups which have been murdering civilians for over 1,000 days? Has ignoring the “evil ideology” (to quote Obama) or “tragic deformity” (to quote James Zogby) of Palestinian culture pacified them?

The U.S. has spent the last three years with its head in the sand pretending that terrorist groups only exist INSIDE America as it left open its borders and ignored the toxic mushrooming of jihadi terrorist groups.

Note To Kamala: Vast Majority Of West Bank Arabs Are Terrorist Supporters (July 2024)

The Scale And Barbarity Of The Hamas Massacre (October 2023)

The UN Continues To Grossly Minimize Palestinian Terror (September 2023)

UNRWA’s West Bank Terrorists (July 2023)

Majority of Palestinians Believe Israel Will Soon Cease to Exist (June 2023)

Letter to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) On Conditioning Aid To Israel (March 2023)

The Successful Murder Of Jews and Marker For New Massacres (January 2023)

The UN Continues To Absolve Palestinian Attacks Against Israelis In The “West Bank” (November 2022)

Wilayat Sinai: The Other Terrorist Group Abutting Israel (February 2022)

Gaza, The Terrorist Enclave (December 2021)

Palestinian Terrorist Groups (July 2021)

‘Right Of Return’ Must Be Integral To Negotiations

Posted on September 1, 2024 by First.One.Through

The current Palestinian war on Israel is much less about borders and land swaps, security matters and the status of Jerusalem, and much more about the so-called “right of return” of descendants of Palestinian Arab refugees to move into Israel rather than a new Palestinian State. Any discussions between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as well as at the United Nations, must bring the matter to the forefront and make clear that settling that point will be done at the national level.

If that sounds obvious, you do not understand the U.N.’s adoption of the Palestinian negotiating point, that the ‘right of return’ is for every individual to decide on his/her own about moving to Israel, outside of governmental negotiations.

US and Israel On ‘Right Of Return’

When President Bill Clinton formulated a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians in 2000, mediator Dennis Ross summarized the working proposal as follows: “On the issue of refugees, there would be a right of return for the refugees to their own state, not to Israel, but there would also be a fund of $30 billion internationally that would be put together for either compensation or to cover repatriation, resettlement, rehabilitation costs. And when it came to security, there would be a international presence, in place of the Israelis, in the Jordan Valley.”

This was the stated policy of both Democratic and Republican parties for years. Republican President George W. Bush sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in April 2004 that stated a “just, fair, and realistic framework for a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue as part of any final status agreement will need to be found through the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the settling of Palestinian refugees there, rather than in Israel.” The 2008 Democratic platform echoed the sentiment that “The creation of a Palestinian state through final status negotiations, together with an international compensation mechanism, should resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel.“

Palestinians and UN On ‘Right of Return’

But when John Kerry tried to negotiate an agreement between the parties in 2014, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas pulled back from any discussion about refugees and said “Let me put it simply: the right of return is a personal decision. What does this mean? That neither the PA, nor the state, nor the PLO, nor Abu-Mazen [Abbas], nor any Palestinian or Arab leader has the right to deprive someone from his right to return…. The choice is yours. You want to return? You will return. You don’t? You’re free to remain; there is compensation and other details … I just wanted to remark on this point, that the right of return is a personal right. Even a father cannot forgo his children’s right.”

This ended any possibility of concluding the conflict via negotiations as Abbas handed the matter of refugees to millions of individuals.

The United Nations agrees with the Palestinian position.

In June 2023, the UN Office of Human Rights issued a report on World Refugee Day called “Right of return of Palestinian refugees must be prioritised over political considerations: UN experts.” It stated that “We urgently call upon the international community to adopt a rights-based approach that addresses the root causes of violence and prioritises the individual and collective right of return for refugees and internally displaced persons, over political considerations.”

The current formulation that Israel has no say on who it allows into its country and that 5.7 million Palestinian Arabs can unilaterally decide they can move to towns where ancestors lived will never be accepted by any Israeli government – right, left or centrist – EVER. It is a recipe for perpetual bloodshed and animosity.

To enable any chance for there to ever be a negotiated solution, the United Nations must be clear that the matter of the descendants of Palestinian Arabs who once lived in modern Israel is a matter to be handled by the PA, and not for individuals. Alternatively, the UN can state clearly that the ‘right of return’ is only limited to individuals who actually left Israel and not for their descendants.

The ‘two-state solution’ became unviable when the UN and Palestinian leadership decided that a ‘right of return’ for millions of Palestinians into Israel is an inalienable individual right. For there to be a chance of ending the bloodshed and conflict, it must be made clear that Palestinian leadership will negotiate the parameters of a “right of return” with Israel.

The Distant Fantasy Of Two States Living Side By Side In Today’s Reality (August 2024)

There Is No Basis For A Palestinian “Right of Return” (July 2024)

The Three “Two-State Solution”s (December 2023)

The Only Way The Conflict Can End (November 2023)

Israel, Ceuta and Melilla: Third World Escape Hatches (November 2023)

“Two States For Two People” And An Arab “Right Of Return” Are Mutually Exclusive (September 2023)

There Is No Backing For A Palestinian “Right Of Return” (December 2022)

When the Democrats Opposed the Palestinian “Right of Return” (August 2018)

The “Great Myth of Return” (April 2018)

Lebanon-Israel War Narrative

Posted on August 25, 2024 by First.One.Through

The war between Israel and Iran’s proxies is taking place in the media as much as the battlefield. Just review how Israel and Hezbollah published reports of the battle on August 25, 2024.

Israel claims to have thwarted Hezbollah’s attack with preemptive strikes at missile launching sites in Southern Lebanon.

Jerusalem Post headline on August 25, 2024

The Jerusalem Post called Hezbollah’s attack a “failure” and that Israel foiled the attack.

Readers in Lebanon got a very different message from Al-Manar, the Hezbollah media outlet.

Hezbollah claimed that it’s “military operation has been completed successfully” and that Israel’s claims about a preemptive attack are false [Hezbollah doesn’t recognize Israel and calls it “Zionist”].

It added that Hezbollah’s “offensive drones… crossed the Lebanese-Palestinian border towards intended targets” was successful. [Note again that Hezbollah considers Israel to be occupied Palestine.]

The US-designated terrorist group listed various military targets in Israel, which were the focus of the operation.

Al-Manar website lists solely military targets in Israel, in the hope of minimizing Israeli attacks on civilian locations

People in the radical Islamic and anti-Zionist world were told of Hezbollah striking at the Zionist entity in revenge of the assassination of a jihadi leader, complete with a narrative that dismissed any legitimacy of the Jewish State. Zionists were told of the tremendous intelligence of its military, which foiled a potential deadly attack.

Both Hezbollah and Israel had experienced terrible failures of their defensive forces, and each is now fighting a war of propaganda as much as missiles to reclaim the trust of their respective populaces.

Talking About The Gaza War At Work

Posted on August 23, 2024 by First.One.Through

Many Jews have found it difficult to be at work since October 7. Some have been alarmed by the lack of empathy for the Jewish community after the Hamas massacre. Others are distraught over comments that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza. Sometimes the comments come from peers and other times from people who are senior or clients.

The workplace is not like other forums. A person’s livelihood is at stake, and the office is where people work together for long stretches of time. It is a very different dynamic than passing a masked protestor on the street.

How does a person handle anti-Israel vitriol from a colleague on social media like LinkedIn? Is it different if they post something on X or Facebook?

Here are some suggested guidelines:

It is always safe to stick with facts
Opinions are best shared in reaction to something at work; in personal settings, proactive is fine
Emotions are fine to share, as appropriate for that work environment, with an emphasis on humility
Do not troll people on social media. Use your own platform to make your feelings known
Use professional work media like LinkedIn for work related matters unless you are so senior that you believe your Israel advocacy can influence people
You can share your pro-Israel positions in a permanent passive manner by posting your role on Zionist groups like StandWithUs or post pictures of you in Israel
If you feel close enough to a colleague at work and their views are within the framework of honest disagreement, ask if they are open to discussing the topic
Should someone in your office cross the line into intimidation, harassment or discrimination, bring it up with human resources immediately, whether the person is junior or senior to you
If a client crosses the line, bring the matter up internally, asking the firm to terminate the engagement or reassign the client to a different colleague

Crossing the line into intimidation, harassment or discrimination should always be called out regardless of a person’s seniority, and whether internal or external to an organization. It must never be allowed to be normalized.

Honest ignorance is still ignorance. Consider whether the person stating lies is open to learning facts and try to engage respectfully. If the person is irate and will not be swayed, there is no point in engaging directly; you could talk to others who may have witnessed the spectacle.

If you are unfamiliar with facts as you hear arguments, admit as much that you need to do more research. It’s an opportunity to learn more from respected sources and not take someone’s emotional outburst as gospel.

People often react to difficult situations with a desire to either fight or flee. In a business environment, take a breath and be more tactical.

Pirkei Avot 2:16 says:

הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, לֹא עָלֶיךָ הַמְּלָאכָה לִגְמֹר, וְלֹא אַתָּה בֶן חוֹרִין לִבָּטֵל מִמֶּנָּה. אִם לָמַדְתָּ תוֹרָה הַרְבֵּה, נוֹתְנִים לְךָ שָׂכָר הַרְבֵּה. וְנֶאֱמָן הוּא בַעַל מְלַאכְתְּךָ שֶׁיְּשַׁלֵּם לְךָ שְׂכַר פְּעֻלָּתֶךָ. וְדַע מַתַּן שְׂכָרָן שֶׁל צַדִּיקִים לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא:

He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it; If you have studied much Torah, you shall be given much reward. Faithful is your employer to pay you the reward of your labor; And know that the grant of reward unto the righteous is in the age to come.

We have obligations at work, and we have obligations as Jews at work. It includes providing for our families and workers, as well as infusing the environment with Jewish values, but neither should fully supplant the other. Should that happen, it is not really a place of business where a Jew should be present.

A Visit To A Nation Held Hostage (July 2024)

Ignoring Columbia’s – And The Education Industry’s – Systemic Antisemitism (July 2024)

Meme Stocks And Hamas (May 2024)

‘Tis The Season To Vote And Donate Jewish (April 2024)

The Problem With Antisemitism On College Campuses Stems From Where Jews And Arabs Focused Their Donations (October 2023)

Conspiracy Theories About Jewish Power and Control (November 2022)

We Listen To Idiots (November 2022)

Bigots In Power, Checked And Unchecked (October 2022)

Hunting For The Raucous Roar Of Anti-Zionists At The DNC

Posted on August 22, 2024 by First.One.Through

The parents of one of the hostages stolen to Gaza on October 7, 2023 spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last night. The parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, hailed from Chicago and spoke in anguished voices in their hometown. They made clear that the return of their music-loving son was not an issue of politics but of humanity.

The parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin mentioned the 22 nationalities of the hostages and their multiple religions. They made an appeal to bring all the hostages home and end the suffering of innocent people in Gaza. It was an apolitical speech.

Yet it made the anti-Israel socialist-jihadi alliance apoplectic. Why wasn’t a Palestinian invited to speak they asked?

Rep. Jamaal Bowman wanted Palestinians to speak at DNC

Members of the socialist-jihadi “squad” said that the DNC was “erasing ” and “dehumanizing” Palestinians by not giving equal time to Palestinians impacted by the war [that Palestinians launched and support].

Arab and Muslim influencers like Mehdi Hasan and James Zogby pushed for much the same.

The vast majority of Palestinians support the October 7 slaughter of Jews and taking of hostages. The majority of Gazans have always supported the murder of Jews inside Israel, before and after Hamas took control of the area. The majority want Israel destroyed.

Perhaps the DNC may have been able to find a Palestinian-American somewhere who wants to live peacefully alongside the Jewish State. Perhaps the Democrats could have given a platform to a Palestinian who would show empathy for both Israelis who were hunted and tortured, as well as Palestinians who suffer because their leaders hide like cowards in tunnels and refuse to surrender.

To what end? The speech by the Israeli-Americans was not political so didn’t require a “balanced” counterpoint.

As it relates to politics, the DNC released its 2024 platform which reiterated “America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel and our unrivaled ability to leverage growing regional integration among U.S. partners to counter Iranian aggression.” The Polin-Goldberg parents speech went directly to that important point of providing the Jewish State with the means to defend itself so such atrocities would not be repeated by Iranian-backed sponsors of terror.

Israel has killed roughly 17,000 terrorists so far in the defensive war it never wanted. It has managed to do this with the support of the Democratic administration in power.

While it is deeply tragic that roughly a similar number of civilians have died according to Hamas sources, how does giving a voice to the innocent Arab victims advance the current DNC platform of peace and security? The Israeli-American parents spoke of the suffering of Palestinians, which is also part of the Democratic platform, which specifically calls out “the worth of every innocent life, whether Israeli or Palestinian.”

But the socialist-jihadi cabal wants to undermine Israel’s security. It seeks to strip the Democratic Party of its policy of supporting the Jewish State. The goal of showcasing the unfortunate suffering of Palestinians is not an attempt at balance but whitewashing the genocidal intent of Hamas.

The socialist-jihadi alliance wants to veil the wolf in sheep’s clothing. The true socialist-jihadi spokesperson is Yahya Sinwar himself, a man committed to destroying Israel and the United States regardless of cost.

*Yahya Sinwar, Palestinian leader of Gaza, Hamas and orchestrator of the barbaric October 7 massacre takes the podium*

Alternatively, if Palestinian voices will not be heard, the socialist-jihadi alliance demands that Zionists be silenced. They want relationships with Zionists to be “denormalized”, as showcased with greater frequency in liberal cities.

*Protestors shut down Brooklyn event because liberal Jewish speaker is also a Zionist, August 2024*

It is a deeply abnormal situation that parents must plead for the release of their innocent child held in captivity for nearly a year. It is also horribly tragic that Americans are attempting to normalize the deplatforming of Zionists.