Category Archives: Israel

The Year 2023: Entry To The Holy Land

Posted on by
4

There are millions of religious Christians who look at the founding of the State of Israel as a matter of divine will. One of the points of evidence they use is that the year of the founding of the state was 1948 in the Gregorian Calendar, commonly referred to as the Common Era. It was in that year in the Jewish Calendar – 1948 – that Abraham was born according to the Old Testament. Remarkably, after two thousand years of persecution and wandering, that the Jews would reestablish their homeland in that common year is considered too much of a coincidence. It is a sign from G-d.

It is therefore important to note this moment in time, 2023CE. As Israel celebrates its 75th anniversary milestone, it was in that year of the Jewish calendar, that Abraham entered the land of Canaan and G-d promised him and his descendants blessings and the land.

Genesis 12:1-4:

“יהוה said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; I will make your name great, And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And curse the one who curses you; And all the families of the earth; Shall bless themselves by you. Abram went forth as יהוה had commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.”

Seventy-five years since the rebirth of the Jewish State, the country thrives while it continues to have challenges. It has remained stable and economically sound despite the mayhem in the surrounding countries. It has defeated its foes in battles repeatedly, and has forged peace treaties with several former enemies. It has managed to ingather millions of Jewish exiles from around the world, as it rekindled Hebrew into a common spoken language. It granted citizenship to non-Jews living in the land, in a unique forum of coexistence in the Middle East.

Abram was 48 years old at the time of the Great Dispersion from the Tower of Babel. He witnessed firsthand the ill effects of unanimity, and was part of G-d’s global directive towards particularism – in both language and place. At 75 years old, he was told to relocate, to a place already inhabited by others, to become the source of blessing for the entire world.

In 2023 of the Jewish calendar, the father of monotheism was not directed to conquer or convert the slightly more “indigenous” people (by 27 years) in the holy land, even as the land was soon to be promised to him, his son Isaac and the generations after him. Abram was to be an inspiration and a talisman for everyone. In that generation which broke the embraced orthodoxy of universalism, he embodied G-d’s will of particularism.

Today, in 2023 of the Common Era we live in a very tense world. People are divided, in part, because of technology that has enabled microtargeting of people with customized news and advertisements, couple with social media algorithms which keep people hyper-engaged. While fifty years ago everyone was basically fed the same media and news, now billions of people can consume and transmit whatever they want. While more satisfied with being fed unique content whenever they want, the hyper-particularism has left many isolated, angry and distrustful.

In considering the year 2023 both in the Jewish calendar and the Gregorian one, it is time to reset our thoughts on universalism and tribalism.

We don’t all need to think, dress or worship the same way. We must break with the notion of unanimity of position, and embrace a society of tolerance. That mean stop canceling, firing and unfriending people if they don’t share your opinions on critical race theory and transgenderism, or dislike the people you follow on Instagram. Allow space for unique attitudes, as long as they are not harmful.

The Bible tells us that Abraham left his “native land” to a land where he would become a focus of not just the local inhabitants but “all the families of the earth.” In today’s world of billions of isolated people, Jews and the Jewish State continue to demand global attention. It is an opportunity for a universalistic approach towards the particular: for the world to bless the Jews and receive G-d’s blessing in return.

A pretty simple formula for a better and happier world.

The Israeli flag at the Western Wall in Jerusalem

Related articles:

The Place and People for the Bible

The Jews of Jerusalem In Situ

The Journeys of Abraham and Ownership of the Holy Land

Abraham’s Hospitality: Lessons for Jews and Arabs

Israel, the Liberal Country of the Middle East

Judaism’s Particularism Protects Al Aqsa

Related music videos:

God is a Zionist (music by Joan Osborne)

Aliyah to Israel (music by The Maccabeats)

The Anthem of Israel is JERUSALEM

Ethiopian Jews Come Home (music by Phillip Phillips)

Teaching Palestinian Youth Compassion

Posted on by
5

Benjamin Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, died this week at 103 years old. He brought many individuals who committed crimes against humanity to justice, and had words of advice for future generations

You cannot kill an entrenched ideology with a gun. You have to teach compassion and tolerance at a young age. 

Benjamin Ferencz

While Ferencz prosecuted individuals, he understood that an “entrenched ideology” feeds violence. Unfortunately, vanquishing criminals brings a temporary respite. To bring about an enduring peace requires teaching “compassion and tolerance at a young age.” Such actions can yield long term benefits for a community of coexistence.

Benjamin Ferencz

In the 1930s and 1940s, Nazis and their collaborators had an entrenched ideology that Jews were evil creatures who were harming the purity of Aryan land. They sought to ethnically cleanse the land of their supposed filth through twisted laws and via violence. Alas, they mostly succeeded in their vile aim. It was only upon their defeat, admission of wrong-doing, and re-education towards tolerance, that Germany was welcomed back into the community of nations, including having a good relationship with the Jewish State.

Today, the terrible entrenched ideology exists among Palestinian Arabs about their Jewish neighbors. The Arabs refuse to acknowledge the basic fact of the long history of Jews in the region. They deny Jews the basic human right to pray at their holiest location on the Jewish Temple Mount. They ethnically cleansed Jews from the eastern portion of Israel including eastern Jerusalem in the 1948-9 war, and now demand a return to such Jew-free situation. They are attempting to use laws and violence to purge the Jews of what they see as purely Arab land.

While several Palestinian terrorist groups wage war against the existence of Israel and presence of Jews, the future must be waged with Palestinian youth. The lesson plans for compassion and tolerance should include:

  • The 3,300 year history of Jews in the holy land
  • That Judaism is a unique religion, with ties to a specific land, that is Israel
  • Judaism’s particularity poses no threat to Islam: there is no desire to convert people nor to turn al Aqsa or any mosque into a synagogue.
  • Jews and Arabs are both descended from Abraham. Judaism teaches that Abraham loved Ishmael and promised that he would become great nations
  • Jews are the most persecuted people in the world. Since 1900, they were tortured, routed and slaughtered in Russia, Ukraine, Europe and a dozen Arab countries.
  • As the Holocaust began in Europe, Palestinian leadership convinced the British to implement the White Paper capping Jewish immigration to Palestine, which led to the death of over 100,000 Jews in Europe
  • When Jewish survivors made it to Palestine after the European genocide, Palestinians and neighboring Arab armies waged a war to annihilate the paltry and weak remaining Jews
  • The Jewish State gave all Arabs citizenship when it declared itself a country and offered the Arabs of Jerusalem citizenship when it reunited the city. Over 25% of Israel is not Jewish.
  • Israel made peace with many Muslim and Arab countries and is willing to do so with local Arabs as well. It made several peace offers to Palestinian leadership which were all rejected

If Arab youth are taught that Jews coexist with non-Jews in Israel who have full rights in a liberal country, and that the Jewish State would welcome peace agreements with all neighboring Arab states, hopefully the evil ideology will be vanquished.

Alas, Arab youth are taught the evil ideology of their parents and reject coexistence and “normalization” as they seek a jihad with false claims:

  • That Jews are not indigenous but “colonizers”
  • There were no Jewish temples in Jerusalem
  • Jews are ethnically cleansing Arabs and committing a genocide (despite all facts and figures showing otherwise)
  • Israel is not a liberal country but committing “apartheid” against Arabs
  • The al Aqsa compound is a purely Islamic site and Jews have no history or rights
  • It is the Palestinian Arabs who are the real victims of a “Nakba” both from 1949 and 1967, lying that did not start either war
  • Israel has never made any real effort towards peace
  • The Israeli army likes to shoot Palestinian babies while Palestinians are simply “resorting to violence“
  • That Zionism is racism
  • That the United Nations will force Israel to absorb 6 million additional Arabs into Israel

This evil ideology does not accurately reflect the past, present or future. It is a concocted anti-Semitic invective which will stymy the chance for peace.

Benjamin Ferencz led a life of fighting evil and gave us a roadmap for enduring peace by teaching compassion and tolerance to young people. Let’s use that roadmap with Palestinian youth to bring peace to the holy land.

Related articles:

Palestinian Inversion Of Facts Based On Refusal To Coexist

Excerpt of Hamas Charter to Share with Your Elected Officials

Rashida Tlaib’s Modern ‘Mein Kampf’

The War Against Israel and Jewish Civilians

The New York Times Excuses Palestinian “Localized Expressions of Impatience.” I Mean Rockets.

The Anti-Semitism In Anti-Zionism

A Core Tenet of Zionism Is Combatting Anti-Semitism

Zionism is Justice

I am a Zionist. A Deep Zionist. An Amazed Zionist. A Loud Zionist.

US’s Weak Condemnation Of Palestinian Terror

Posted on by
Reply

Amidst the Jewish holiday of Passover, Palestinian terrorists launched attacks on civilians in Israel, killing three and injuring many others.

Italian tourist Alessandro Parini, killed while visiting Israel by Israeli Arab

The United States offered tepid comments about the heinous killings.

To start, the official statement came from Vendat Patel. Never heard of him? He’s the Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, quite a few levels down from the Secretary of State Antony Blinken or the American Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides.

The full statement issued by this deputy spokesperson was as follows:

“The United States strongly condemns today’s terrorist attacks in the West Bank and Tel Aviv. We extend our deepest condolences to the victims’ families and loved ones, and wish a full recovery to the injured. The three horrific attacks today, in which three were killed and at least eight others wounded, affected citizens of Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The targeting of innocent civilians of any nationality is unconscionable. The United States stands with the government and people of Israel. We are in close contact with our Israeli partners and reaffirm our enduring commitment to their security.”

Compare the terse statement about the killing of Israeli civilians to the one that the United Nations Security Council issued about the terrorism in Afghanistan on March 28. That statement “condemned in the strongest terms the continued heinous terrorist attacks targeting civilians.” It importantly made clear that: “The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.  They urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard. The members of the Security Council reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed. They reaffirmed the need for all States to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other obligations under international law, including international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.“

Neither the United States nor the United Nations make the same obvious comments for Israel, that it – together with “all States” – “need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors” of terrorism accountable and brought to justice. Even when Israel effectively brings perpetrators to justice, the UN and US pressure Israel to let the backers “of these reprehensible acts of terrorism” off the hook.

The latest civilians murdered by Arabs in Israel include Italian and British nationals. Will Italy and the United Kingdom continue to allow the Palestinian Authority to pay the families of the terrorists in its popular “pay-to-slay” scheme?

It is a vile double standard which cheapens the lives of civilians in Israel, and simultaneously blesses and encourages Palestinian Arab terrorism.

Related articles:

The US State Department Does Not Want Israel to Fight Terrorism

Select Support in Fighting Terrorism from the US State Department

US State Department Comments on Terrorism in Israel and the Territories

CNN Sanitizes Palestinian Car Ramming Terrorism

Palestinian Post-paid Terrorism

Letter To Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY16) About Palestinian Support For Attacks

The United Nations Ignores Radical Muslim Violent Extremism and Terrorism

Praising and Defending Terrorism Against Jews

Will The UN Ever Support Israel Addressing Terrorism And Violent Extremism?

Amid The Terror, The United Nations Once Again Protects Palestinians

Terrifying Trifecta Of Anti-Zionism

Posted on by
22

The poorly named “Second Intifada” from September 2000 until 2004, was a period of Palestinian jihadi pogroms against Jews in Israel. Hundreds of Arab attackers bombed buses and ice cream stores, stabbed and ran over women and children in the street, and stoned cars carrying families. Well over 1,000 Jews were killed in their war on innocents.

The Palestinian community was very supportive of the murders. A December 2001 PCPSR poll of Palestinians found that 22.7% and 57.4% of West Bank Arabs “strongly supported” and “supported” armed attacks against Israelis, respectively, with 61.4% believing violence against Israeli civilians inside of Israel could achieve “Palestinian rights” more than negotiations. As such, the Palestinian slaughter of Jewish civilians continued.

The “Second Intifada” / Two Percent War came to a close when Israel built a security barrier which limited the entry of Palestinian Arabs into Israel. When Israel handed Gaza to the Palestinians in 2005 after assurances from the United States that it would support Israel’s annexation of parts of the West Bank, the center of Palestinian attacks mostly came from Gaza, not the West Bank.

That has now changed.

While the majority of Gazans have consistently favored killing Israeli civilians, the period before March 2021 had only about 25% of West Bank Arabs supporting murdering Jews inside of Israel. (To say “only” to one-out-of-four Palestinians in favor of killing innocent Jews is a relatively good figure is appalling, and goes to the jihadi mindset prevalent in the region). The figure jumped to about one-out-of-three after May 2021, when Israel made attempts to evict Palestinian squatters in Shiekh Jarrah in Jerusalem, and Hamas launched rockets into Israel in protest. According to the PCPSR poll in June 2021, Palestinians concluded that Hamas won the battle as Israel halted the eviction, meaning, violence pays off.

Between June 2021 and September 2022, the six PCPSR polls had West Bank Arab support for killing innocent Israeli Jews between 26% and 35%. Then the December 2022 poll showed a step up to 46% support and March 2023 jumped further to 57% support for murdering Jews inside of Israel. There were a few reasons for the jumps.

In the three months before the December 2022 poll, several events happened:

  • all Palestinian factions met in Algiers and voted to reconcile and hold new elections
  • Israel elected Benjamin Netanyahu to be Prime Minister again with a coalition of ultra-Orthodox Jews and those backing Jewish rights east of the 1949 Armistice Lines (E49AL)
  • The newest terrorist groups in the West Bank, the “Lions’ Den” and Jenin Battalion became known in widespread media coverage

The pollsters also believed that the World Cup in Qatar was a factor, noting that it helped “restore Palestinian public trust in the Arab World after years of disappointment.” Further, it added that “in light of the escalating armed clashes in the West Bank and the near formation of a right wing and extreme government in Israel, the Palestinian public becomes more hardline while indicating a greater confidence in the efficacy of armed struggle.” (Note that Arabs use the phrase “armed struggle” to defend the reality of the open slaughter of innocents.)

The three months before the March 2023 poll were not as eventful, but did see the point blank shooting of two Israeli brothers who drove into the Arab town of Huwara, and the subsequent revenge attack by Israelis on the town. The pollsters concluded that “In light of the recent events in Huwara and the northern West Bank, Palestinian public attitudes become more militant as support for armed struggle rises,… and for the first time since the creation of the PA, a majority says that its dissolution or collapse serves the interest of the Palestinian people.“

The more moderate West Bank Arabs have now joined the jihadists in the terrorist enclave of Gaza to conclude that the Oslo Accords and the creation of the Palestinian Authority does not serve their interests. They have decided that the best way to secure their “rights” is via “armed struggle”, now with more arms, and the belief that more people will support their cause than during the scorched earth pogroms of 2000-2004.

They have reasons to believe in their latest jihad.

Not only has Israel still not evicted the Palestinian Arab squatters in homes in Sheikh Jarrah, for the first time ever, Democrats in the United States have more sympathy for Palestinian Arabs than Israelis, according to a March 2023 Gallup poll. Left-wing politicians are leaning into the poll, such as Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY16), now pushing to condition military aid to Israel.

That will likely encourage Palestinian Arabs to continue their violent attacks against Jews in Israel and the West Bank, and anti-Semites/ anti-Zionists to attack Jews around the world.

It’s a terrifying trifecta: for the first time since the Second Intifada, the majority of Palestinians favor killing Jews; for the first time ever, a majority of Palestinians favor dissolving the Palestinian Authority; and also for the first time ever, more Democrats favor Palestinians over Israelis.

The movement to “Globalize the Intifada” began to gather steam right after the May 2021 skirmish as Palestinians concluded that violence pays off. It is now reaching the boiling point as people conclude that governmental-led society is broken and should be abandoned.

It is called anarchy, and is coming for the Jews first.

Marchers in Brooklyn, New York in July 2021

Related articles:

The Global Intifada

The Current Intifada against Everyone

The Anti-Semitism In Anti-Zionism

Radical Muslim Groups Celebrate Bombings And Murder of Jewish Teenager In Jerusalem

The Insidious Jihad in America

The Banners of Jihad

Pick Your Jihad; Choose Your Infidel

Letter To Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY16) About Palestinian Support For Attacks

Posted on by
21

Email Rep. Jamaal Bowman
Mount Vernon Office (914) 371-9220, White Plains office  (914) 323-5550, D.C. office (202) 225-2464

Rep. Bowman,

I understand that you are co-authoring a letter to President Biden “to investigate whether Israel is using U.S. weapons to commit human rights abuses against Palestinians.” In the current draft of the letter made available by Jewish Currents, you made reference to recent attacks in the West Bank as well as a claim that the “Israeli government’s anti-democratic mission to dismantle the rule of law… is attempting to destroy the independent Israeli judiciary.” You also claimed that there is an Israeli “military siege of Gaza.”

Allow me to give you information that you may have missed or decided to ignore.

The Palestinians poll themselves every quarter, something they have been doing since 2000. The latest poll came out on March 14, 20231 and details frightening sentiments of Palestinian Arabs about their Jewish neighbors:

  • 68% support the formation of armed groups, such as the Lions’ Den, and 87% believe the Palestinian Authority (PA) does not have the right to arrest members of these groups
  • 71% support the Palestinian point blank shooting of two Israeli brothers who drove into the town of of Huwara
  • 61% of Palestinians support armed attacks against Israeli civilians inside of Israel
  • 57% support the return to an “armed intifada”
  • Support for a two state solution stands at just 27%
  • If presidential elections were held, 52% would vote for the leader of the political-terrorist group Hamas

Those are the latest figures of the Palestinians polling themselves. It is because of that rejection of coexistence and preference for violent attacks that Israel launched a daytime raid into Nablus on February 22, to stop an upcoming terrorist attack. The Israeli defensive action killed nine terrorists and saved an untold number of lives – which your letter disgracefully omitted. Are you in favor of allowing terrorists to target and kill innocent Jewish civilians in Israel?

Even according to the biased United Nations reports, West Bank Arabs committed more attacks2 than Israeli Jews living in Israeli territory of Area C in every month of 2022.

As for terrorist enclave of Gaza,3 the situation is more horrific. The territory is controlled by a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, Hamas.4 The March 2023 poll figures show that 36% and 31% “strongly support” and “support” armed attacks against Jews in Israel, respectively. A frightening 71% of Gazans support armed groups like the Lions’ Den and Jenin Battalion which do not take orders from the PA (question 40). Your inversion of this terrorist enclave to being the victims of an “Israeli military siege” is outrageous.

As to the assertion that Israel is “pushing repressive, anti-democratic policies,” let me remind you that Israel held five in elections in the past four years. This in a region that doesn’t hold any, including the PA, where the president’s four-year term ran out in 2009, fourteen years ago. Further, after each Israeli election, there was a peaceful transition of power, more than can be said for these United States.

Currently hundreds of thousands of citizens are peacefully protesting in the streets of Israel for months, in sharp contrast to the bloodshed and civil wars in neighboring countries.5 And both side of the Israeli protests are in favor of putting checks-and-balances for the government and judiciary.

Curiously, your letter was shockingly devoid of any mention of the PA continuing its “pay-to-slay” policy, in which it pays the families of Arab terrorists who kill Jews. It failed to mention the many schools and public squares are named after Arab terrorists who kill Jews.6 It omitted mentioning Palestinian law which calls for capital punishment or a life of hard labor for any Arab who sells land to a Jew.7

Your refusing to acknowledge the radical jihadi violence currently prevalent in Palestinian society – as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran march towards nuclear weapons – while simultaneously calling for the U.S. to consider pulling back military support for the only Jewish State, is alarming.

Rep. Bowman, anti-Semitism is brewing in your district, in your state and your country. At the same time, more Israeli Jews have already been killed by Palestinian terrorism since President Biden took office than in the full four years of the prior American administration.

Amidst such backdrop, you’ve decided that America should open an investigation of the Jewish State and show its enemies that the sole liberal democracy8 in the Middle East is losing its main supporter.

Not satisfied with penning such letter with Senator Bernie Sanders, you are seemingly agitating to get other members of congress to join your assault.

Congressman, you defeated Rep. Eliot Engel, one of the authors of the Taylor Force Act which restricted funds to the Palestinian Authority as long as it continued its “martyr payments.” Are you now using your power to strip Israel of funding for its defensive operations? Did congress not only lose a defender of human rights in the Middle East, but did it gain a member which tramples on them?

There are indeed “gross violations of human rights” happening now. And you are aiding and abetting the perpetrators.

  1. Palestinian Center for Policy and Public Research March 2023 https://www.pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Poll%2087%20English%20full%20text%20March2023.pdf
  2. https://firstonethrough.wordpress.com/2022/11/10/un-doesnt-like-proportionate-israeli-reaction-to-arab-terror-either/
  3. Terrorist enclaves like Gaza are dangerous according to the U.S. Department of Defense https://www.gao.gov/assets/a126365.html
  4. List of U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organizations https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations/
  5. Israeli democracy in the middle of a failed Arab Spring https://firstonethrough.wordpress.com/2023/03/18/israel-teaches-the-world-about-democracy/
  6. Palestinian schools and squares named for terrorists https://firstonethrough.wordpress.com/2021/03/18/palestinians-celebrate-their-female-terrorists/
  7. Palestinians die in PA custody for selling land to Jews https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-man-convicted-of-selling-land-to-israeli-jews-dies-in-pa-custody/
  8. Israel is a liberal country https://firstonethrough.wordpress.com/2015/03/26/israel-the-liberal-country-of-the-middle-east/

#PrimaryBowman

Related articles:

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

You Cannot Be Progressive And Pro-Palestinian

Why Blockade Gaza

Excerpt of Hamas Charter to Share with Your Elected Officials

NY Times Uses J Street As The Source Of Its Israel Coverage And Promotes The Group

Posted on by
8

There was a time when the largest newspaper in the world did its own reporting, analysis and sourcing of news. It chose its stories and reported facts with the aim of educating the world-at-large about important matters.

Those days are long gone. The New York Times has become an activist agitator, reporting on stories from the vantage point of its far left-wing base. The news is not simply delivered as though written in the Opinion Section by progressive activists, but is actually SOURCED from left-wing groups.

Consider the paper’s reporting on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Times has long chosen to vilify him as a monster, even posting TWO close-up pictures of him in an article about a Palestinian Arab youth injured during riots, seemingly suggesting the Netanyahu himself punched the boy in the face. (For comparison, try to find a picture of President Barack Obama in a Times article about American drones blowing up people in the far East).

As the paper is online, it has become easier to track the deep bias against Israel and Netanyahu: J Street.

J Street markets itself as pro-peace and pro-Israel, when it is actually a far left-wing group headed by pro-Palestinian Jews, a counter to the Republican Jewish Coalition that is conservative and pro-Israel. J Street frequently publishes opinion pieces as it lobbies politicians to take pro-Arab actions, and the Times quotes the group’s leadership as though it spoke for the majority of American Jews.

In a recent Times’ article, “Biden’s Confrontation With Netanyahu Had Been Brewing For Years“, it described a letter written by Democratic politicians urging the president to take action against Israel. Rather than source the actual letter, the Times provided a link to J STREET’S WEBSITE praising the letter.

Not only does the “Gray Lady” not go to source documents to draw its own conclusions in writing articles, it acts as a REFERRAL TO LEFT-WING ANTI-ZIONIST SITES.

The radical jihadist group Students For Justice in Palestine said that J Street is a gateway for Jews to become anti-Zionist. The New York Times is providing them a global megaphone.

Related articles:

Students For Justice in Palestine Says J Street Is The Gateway For Jewish Anti-Zionists

The NY Times outdoes itself Swapping News and Editorials

J Street Signals “Open Warfare” On Jewish And Pro-Israel Communities, Urging The United States To Take Action AGAINST Israel

The New York Times Excuses Palestinian “Localized Expressions of Impatience.” I Mean Rockets.

J Street’s Ben Ami Smears Moderate Jews As Racists

NY Times Considers Notion That Terrorism Against Israel is a Matter of Free Speech

In Inversion, New York Times Admits “The Truth is Hard to Find”

New York Times’ Tales of Israeli Messianic War-Mongering

The Evil Architects at J Street Take a Bow

The Press Are Not Guardians of the Galaxy

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

Posted on by
11

Dear Senator,

I have read with alarm that you are considering making aid to Israel “conditional,” something no American president has ever done, including President Biden. The reasons for doing so are abundant, and have never been more obvious.

Sen. Chris Murphy (photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts.)

Security

Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran has threatened to wipe Israel off the map. This leading state sponsor of terrorism is on the very cusp of nuclear weapons capability, a fact very well known to you and the United States government which has been alternatively attempting to stop the terrorist regime from gaining weapons of mass destruction, and paving the way to a legal complete manufacturing infrastructure. 

Lebanon. One of Iran’s terrorist arms is Hezbollah, just north of Israel in Lebanon. The terrorist group is overseeing a country in the middle of a complete freefall, with its currency collapsing by over 90% since the beginning of they year. The Lebanese are becoming extremely anxious, with a populace now ranked as the second most unhappy country in the world, just ahead of Afghanistan. The terrorists of Hezbollah have an estimated 150,000 missiles and mortars targeting Israel, and there is no better way to distract the angry Lebanese than to start a war against the Jewish State.

Syria. Another leading state sponsor of terrorism is still led by a mass murderer who has killed hundreds of thousands of his own citizens. The country remains in an official state of war with Israel, as it has been since the reestablishment of the Jewish State. While Israel was effective at stopping Syria from building a nuclear weapons compound which the Islamic state was doing with the help of North Korea (yet another state sponsor of terrorism), Syria continues to get supplied with arms and intelligence from Iran and Russia.

West Bank Palestinian Arabs. The Arabs in the West Bank have never been more blood-thirsty than they are at present. According to a December 2022 Palestinian poll, 46% support killing Jewish civilians inside of Israel (Gazans’ support was yet higher at 57%). Several new terrorist groups have recently emerged in the West Bank including the Lion’s Den and Jenin Battalion which have a 70% approval rating according to a March 2023 Palestinian poll, with the groups shooting and planning attacks against Israelis. A similarly frightening high percentage of Palestinians support the point blank shooting of two Jewish brothers who drove into an Arab town a few weeks ago.

Gazans. The political-terrorist group Hamas, continues to rule Gaza. The group is committed to never making peace with Israel and was elected to a significant majority of the Palestinian parliament with the most anti-Semitic charter ever written. If new presidential elections were held, Hamas would win according to the March 2023 poll (52% for Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh to 36% for Fatah’s Mahmoud Abbas), and assume control of the Palestinian Authority to rule both the West Bank and Gaza.

The idea of making aid to Israel conditional in such backdrop is not only dangerous in hurting Israel’s military readiness, but serves as an invitation to the Jewish State’s hostile neighbors that it is standing alone and vulnerable.

Palestinian Thoughts on the “Peace Process”

And for what? Why subject Israel to the evil forces that seek its destruction? Are the radical jihadist values listed above closer aligned to the United States?

You mentioned that Israel is not actively engaged in pursuing a two state solution. Have you looked at the facts and polls related to Palestinians?

According to the March 2023 PCPRS poll, “support for the concept of the two-state solution stands at 27% and opposition stands at 71%.” Three times as many Palestinian oppose a two-state solution as support it.

Their preference is violence. The same poll found that “58% supported return to armed confrontations and intifada,” and 77% want Abbas to resign. The Palestinians are not interested in peace or negotiations led by a corrupt and inept leader, but want to go to war with Israel.

Exactly how is Israel supposed to push forward two states with such Palestinian counterparty? Israel has shown its readiness to make peace with many Arab countries willing to engage, and has put forward numerous solutions through the decades to the Palestinian Arabs. The current situation offers no opportunity for fruitful negotiations.

Jewish Homes East of The 1949 Armistice Lines (E49AL)

Senator, you seem to believe that the presence of Jews obliterates the chance for a two state solution. On February 15, 2023 you said “The Israeli government’s move to advance nearly 10,000 new settlement homes and legalize nine outposts in the West Bank is deeply concerning. Unilateral decisions like these make a negotiated two-state future more and more difficult to achieve and undercut prospects for a just and lasting peace with the Palestinians.” A couple of weeks later you doubled down and said “I worry that we are at a moment in which we are watching a future Palestinian state be obliterated by the pace of settlements, by the legalization of outposts.”

If Israel is thriving with over 20% of its population coming from non-Jews including Arabs and Druze, and the United Nations continues to demand that Israel accept millions of additional Arabs into the country, why are 10,000 new homes for Jews an obstacle for a “lasting peace with the Palestinians”? Is it because the Palestinians want an ethnically-cleansed, pure Arab country devoid of Jews? If that is their goal, how can anyone believe that there will ever be peace with people who hold such noxious anti-Semitic views?

Senator, your comments would simply be viewed as irresponsible if they were uttered from the mouths of radical members of the House of Representatives. Coming from a senator who sits on the foreign affairs committee is a dangerous invitation for brutal violent dictators and terrorist groups to wage war on the Jewish State.

Conditioning aid to Israel to pressure the Jewish State to bend to the will of anti-Semitic Arabs is not the mark of a “pragmatic progressive.” It is a product of a delusional mindset chasing a fantasy that Palestinians do not want (in regards to two states) and Israelis cannot risk.

Sincerely,

Members of First One Through

CONTACT Sen. Christopher Murphy (D-CT)

Other member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-DE)
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA)
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Sen. Cory A. Booker (D-NJ)
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI)
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
Sen. James Risch (R-ID)
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT)
Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
Sen. Todd Young (R-IN)
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)

Related articles:

The Israeli-Arab Conflict Is About The Presence of Jews, Not the “1967 Borders”

UN Lies About Palestinians Favoring Two States

Israel: Security in a Small Country

On Defenses: Provocative and Legal / Unprovocative and Illegal

The Green Line

Palestinian Arabs Do Not Want Negotiations or a Two State Solution

The Left-Wing’s Two State Solution: 1.5 States for Arabs, 0.5 for Jews

Israel Teaches The World About Democracy

Posted on by
5

The streets of Israel are teeming with hundreds of thousands of people protesting the proposed changes to the country’s judicial system. It is a global lesson in democracy.

An Education About The Supreme Court

The current protests are not about the price of cottage cheese (there actually was such a protest in Israel!), raising the age of retirement (as in France), or about changes to police enforcement (as in the USA), but about how the country’s Supreme Court is elected and functions. Something seemingly so nuanced and esoteric as to be beyond the interest of the masses, yet they’ve come out to protest for weeks and months to argue for compromise.

The proposed five changes are seemingly small but the impact is potentially large. As people delve into the details, they are getting a civics lesson about the checks-and-balances that maintain a healthy democracy.

Elections

The bedrock of democracy is the rights of citizens to elect their leaders. Israel is so focused on the will of its citizens, it remarkably held five elections in four years! It sounds preposterous, especially in the middle of the illiberal Middle East which has leaders for life with either no or sham elections.

Israel obviously did not do this intentionally, as governments are intended to sit for several years. However, the country’s parliamentary system enables coalition members to withdraw and thereby dissolve its majority position. In slim majority coalitions, a single upset member of parliament can bring about a collapse of the majority and calls for a new election. The Prime Minister can do little about it, other than negotiate, beg and plead to keep his coalition together.

Israeli citizens watch this theater in real time, and get to choose the next chess pieces to place on the board. It is a thoroughly engaged, active – and yes, oftentimes dysfunctional – democracy. As Winston Churchill said “No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

Despite the flux and hysteria, the people of Israel voted in peace and the transition of power happened without violence.

Checks and Balances

The Kohelet Policy Forum which drafted the proposed changes to the country’s judicial process, is just as sensitive to the checks-and-balances of power as those protesting the changes. Those for and against the rules do not want any branch of the government to have unlimited control of society. An election won is not a certificate to overhaul every aspect of society and civil protection, and unelected judges chosen by unelected officials should not be able to trump laws and the government willy-nilly.

Both the protestors and those backing the judicial overhaul are debating a crucial principle of creating and maintaining a healthy society.

Majority Rule And Protection Of Minorities

The democratic process of choosing a government via elections is meant to empower the will of the majority of voters. However, it is a liberal democracy that enshrines protections of the minority through laws.

Israel has many groups who could be considered minority groups. Israeli Arab citizens number about 1.6 million and about 2 million including those with permanent residency status. There are about 160,000 Ethiopian Jews and 1.3 million ultra Orthodox Jews. They got to vote and make their concerns heard, and also count on the legal system to protect their basic rights.

Which is part of the interesting dynamic in Israel. The country does not have a constitution and relies on Basic Laws for fundamental rights and protections. People are appreciating the role of the parliament and judiciary in such a situation, and considering whether enacting a constitution would be beneficial.

Peaceful Protests

Israelis of all walks of life have made their feelings known. Professional lawyers, doctors and bankers rallied in squares. Laborers and workers blocked highways. Military personnel refused to serve. CEOs took their monies out of the country.

All peacefully.

Tens of thousands of Israelis protest against the government’s judicial overhaul moves, in Tel Aviv on March 4, 2023. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)

This is in sharp contrast to the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ protests in neighboring Arab countries.

In Egypt, 846 people were killed in protests, which saw the head of the country get thrown out and put in jail, followed by an election in which the people chose a radical Islamist, who was in short order thrown out of office by the military.

Reporters run for cover during clashes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters of Egypt’s ousted president Mohamed Morsi, and police.(photo: MOSAAB EL-SHAMY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

In Syria, the protests led to a brutal crackdown by its leader with over 2,500 people killed in the first months. It soon turned into a full civil war with over 500,000 killed and many millions displaced internally in Syria and as refugees abroad.

Syria men carrying babies in Aleppo, Syria in 2017 (photo: AFP)

In Yemen, 2,000 civilians were killed in the first few months of their protests, which became a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia once the ruler fled the country. The estimate of the dead now stands at 150,000. It has become the world’s worst failed state.

The violence continued throughout the Arab world, including in Tunisia (estimated 338 dead), Sudan (over 200), Bahrain (120) and Saudi Arabia (24). In Libya, the United States helped the rebels kill its leader, and the resulting tumult has led to as many as 20,000 killed. The country is now a haven for terrorist groups including ISIS and al Qaeda.

In the middle of this Middle Eastern firestorm of anger and bloodshed, the Jewish State has sit ins, fighting for the rule of law while protecting and believing in it.

What can be more democratic than: open, fair and repeated elections; the smooth transition of power from one government to the next; ensuring checks-and-balances in the government; and the ability to protest peacefully to those in power?

Israel is giving a basic civics lesson to the entire world about the importance and mechanics of proper courts of justice, the seventh of the Noahide Laws. It should be proud.

Related articles:

Israel, the Liberal Country of the Middle East

Nakba 2: The Victory of a Democracy

In Israel, the Winner is… Democracy

The Baker and Government Doth Protest Too Much

Liberal’s Protest Bubble Harms Democracy

It’s the Democracy, Stupid

Open Letter To Politicians On Al Aqsa Mosque

Posted on by
10

Dear elected official,

I know that you have been following matters in the Middle East and likely have access to materials and insiders that many do not. You may have concluded that while the Arab-Israeli Conflict is complicated, the thorniest issue is Jerusalem, and in that tinderbox the most sensitive is the al Aqsa Mosque / Jewish Temple Mount.

I reach that assessment based on your support of a position that the ban of Jews praying on the holy site should continue, a position known as the “status quo.”

It is likely based on comments from the leader of the Palestinian Authority who said that Israel is “playing with fire” if it allows Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, something he called allowing “settlers to desecrate holy sites.”

The leader of Hamas made similar comments, that there would be a “bloodbath” if Israel makes changes to the rights of Jews. He warned that “the action of the occupation targeting the Islamic and the Christian Holy sites in Jerusalem and Palestine, and specifically the Al Aqsa Mosque, brings about the angry Palestinian reaction.”

To avoid such bloodshed, you possibly decided to overlook the basic human rights of Jews to pray at their holiest site.

You may have convinced yourself that the only Jewish visitors who want to pray at the site are right-wing extremist “illegal settlers”, to further rationalize your position.

So let me ask you, do only Christian fanatics visit and pray at the Vatican?

Do you understand that Judaism is a particular religion, with no desire to convert or dominate anyone? That while Christians and Muslims fought crusades for over one hundred years over the holy land, and expelled the others, and converted their mosques to churches and churches to mosques, Israel did no such thing when it took control of the Temple Mount in 1967? Instead, it handed administrative control of the site to the Jordanian Waqf.

Judaism’s particularism protects al Aqsa.

Jerusalem’s Arabs who have been living under Israeli administration for decades have slowly internalized that Israel has no plans on the al Aqsa Mosque. In a December 2022 poll of Jerusalem’s Arabs, they showed that they have a greater fear of accessing the holy site if eastern Jerusalem was under Palestinian sovereignty (63%) than Israeli (41%).

This year is the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Article 18 states “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” Article 2 underscores the point that this relates to religious rights in disputed land: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.”

This clearly includes the rights for Jews from around the world to pray at their holiest site of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.”

So it is with the status quo ban on Jews. It is morally wrong and a disgrace, and the world has blindly let it continue.

I ask that you stop facilitating the trampling of the fundamental human rights of Jews and vote to reverse the anti-Semitic “status quo” edict, and condemn the incendiary remarks and false accusations which block Jews from praying peacefully at their holiest site in their holiest city in the holy land.

Sincerely,

Readers of First One Through

Contact details, click to email:

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)

Senate Foreign Relations Committee:

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-DE)
Sen. Christopher Murphy (D-CT)
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA)
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Sen. Cory A. Booker (D-NJ)
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI)
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
Sen. James Risch (R-ID)
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT)
Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
Sen. Todd Young (R-IN)
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)

House Foreign Affairs Committee

Related articles:

Pros And Cons Of Muslims Considering Jewish Holy Sites As Sacred Also

Active and Reactive Provocations: Charlie Hebdo and the Temple Mount

The UN’s Disinterest in Jewish Rights at Jewish Holy Places

Apostasy

Tolerance at the Temple Mount

Republican and Democratic Politicians Discuss Israel’s Latest Fight

Arabs of Eastern Jerusalem Are Favoring Israel

Posted on by
3

The Arabs living in eastern Jerusalem are in a unique category compared to other Arabs in the region for two principle reasons: from the international perspective, they are not Palestinians, and from the Israeli perspective, they are Israeli. That is not true for any other Arab in the region.

The United Nations in 1947 had sought for all of greater Jerusalem and greater Bethlehem to be an international “holy basin”, but the 1948-9 Arab-Israeli war divided the region into Israeli-controlled and Jordanian-controlled territory. It’s why most countries do not recognize even the western part of Jerusalem as Israeli and move their embassies there, as they want the Holy Basin to be divided through negotiations. The same holds for the eastern part of the city.

From the Israeli perspective, they took the western part of Jerusalem in a defensive war in 1949, and then Bethlehem and eastern Jerusalem in another defensive war in 1967, making the acquisitions completely legal (reacquisitions actually, as all the land was part of the Palestine Mandate). Israel annexed eastern Jerusalem and extended the borders into a new municipality. All Arabs who have not been convicted of terrorism are allowed to apply for Israeli citizenship and thousands have done so.

The trend towards favoring Israel continues to grow.

In December 2022, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) conducted a poll of Arabs from eastern Jerusalem, and compared the results to a poll it conducted in 2010. The trend towards favoring being part of Israel over a potential Palestinian state grew.

There were 22 areas in which the Arabs thought that their daily lives improved, compared to only five in which they deteriorated (and two of them were about taxes). Access to the al Aqsa Mosque (+11%), retirement benefits (+11%), access to travel throughout Israel (+12%), access throughout the West Bank (+21%), overall standard of living (+21%), and obtaining a passport and flying out of Ben Gurion Airport (+22%) are just some examples.

The improvements are directly related to Israel’s governance. When asked to whom they turn when they have an issue, almost no Arab turned towards the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian NGOs or international NGOs which pepper the landscape. Almost everyone turns to either a family member or the Israeli government exclusively.

That is not to say that everything is good and people are satisfied with the Israeli government’s administration. The vast majority of Jerusalem’s Arabs are still angered by the Security Barrier and checkpoints which cause delays (89% and 87%, respectively). The perception of level of crime dropped significantly (from 84% in 2010 to 63% in 2022) as did the perception of corruption of Israeli officials (from 78% to 66%). However the levels of perceived intimidation increased, from border guards (54% to 65%), Jewish civilians (51% to 61%) and Palestinian groups (20% to 29%).

As the Palestinians consider holding presidential elections this year as announced in October 2022 as part of the Algiers Declaration endorsed by the United Nations, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas is likely to raise a commotion about having Arabs in Jerusalem participate. According to the PCPSR poll, only 6% of the eastern Jerusalem Arabs said they would vote. Abbas uses Israel’s refusal to allow Jerusalemites to participate in Palestinian elections as an excuse to not hold them, when in truth, he knows that Hamas would trounce him, as shown in numerous PCPSR polls.

Significantly, when asked what they would like to see in a final settlement, the preference among Jerusalem’s Arabs is for being part of Israel TRIPLED, while only one-third would want to see Jerusalem become part of a Palestinian state, down from half.

Not surprisingly, the number of Jerusalem Arabs who would welcome being Israeli citizens over becoming a citizen of Palestine jumped as well.

The immediate reaction to the findings is perhaps surprise, as Jerusalem is considered the thorniest issue to resolve in the conflict. But Jerusalem’s Arabs are finding that becoming Israeli and part of a stable economic powerhouse is preferable to being under corrupt Arab rule.

As it relates to the most difficult of the thorniest issues, the Jewish Temple Mount / al Aqsa Mosque, the polls findings were shocking. Arabs believe that their access to al Aqsa will be BETTER under Israeli sovereignty than Palestinian sovereignty!

Perhaps that is the reason Abbas, Hamas and even the Jordanian king are actively trying to stoke anger about the Old City of Jerusalem and the al Aqsa Mosque: they see that the local Arabs are embracing Israel.

Jerusalem’s Arabs appreciate the benefits of being under Israeli administration and are increasingly showing their preference that all of Jerusalem should be under Israeli sovereignty.

Related articles:

Arabs in Jerusalem

Will the UN Demand a Halt to Arabs Moving to Jerusalem?

Hey Beinart! Arabs In Jerusalem Can Apply For Israeli Citizenship

Jews In Jerusalem Still Fighting For ‘Social Justice’

Jamaal Bowman Disgustingly Compares Israeli Actions in Jerusalem To A ‘Military Coup’, ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ And A “Genocide”