Category Archives: Israel

Bad Education: Al Jazeera

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People have advanced the notion that ignorance is the root cause of global hatred, racism and antisemitism. The unfortunate reality is that much of it is because of bad education.

Consider the Qatari-run news site Al Jazeera. It does not simply support an anti-Israel point of view in its stories nor simply supply a collection of alternative facts; it delivers its readership complete fabrications.

Palestinian Territories and the 1967 “Border”

Consider the “in depth” work about “The Naksa,” the terms some Arabs use to describe the 1967 Six Day War. The article led with:

“More than 50 years ago, the state of Israel shocked the world when it seized the remaining Palestinian territories of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip,”

A map of the area included a caption which read “In the 1967 War, Israel took control of the shaded areas of the Egyptian Sinai, Syrian Golan Heights, and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.”

This is a work of complete fiction. Between 1948 and 1967 THERE WERE NO “PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES.” The “West Bank” and East Jerusalem were annexed and folded into Jordan. By the 1967 War, the United Nations had even stopped referring to the area as distinct from Jordan on the eastern bank of the Jordan River. Further, the Gaza Strip was run by Egypt.

Al Jazeera continues versions of this lie to this day when it refers to Palestine’s 1967 borders, even though “Palestine” had no lands whatsoever, and the Israeli “borders” were specifically declared to not be viewed as such in the 1949 Armistice Agreements that Israel had with Egypt and with Jordan. The reality is that Palestinians only got land to administer for the first time when Israel handed the Palestinian Authority land in 1995 as part of the Oslo Accords.

Inverted Claim of Ethnic Cleansing

Al Jazeera’s piece continued with accusations that were not just lies but the inversion of the reality of what Arabs did to Jews, using the notion that the best defense is a good offense.

“in 1948, the state of Israel came into being in a violent process that entailed the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Zionist forces, in their mission to create a “Jewish state”, expelled some 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland and destroyed their villages in the process.”

The reality is that it was the Jordanians who ethnically cleansed the Jews from the region – and continue to try to do so to this day.

When the British separated the eastern bank of the Jordan River as they were allowed to do under Article 25 of the Palestine Mandate, they failed to uphold the condition of Article 15 which stated that “no person shall be excluded from Palestine on the sole ground of his religious belief.” But the Jordanians did just that, invading Israel in 1948, expelling every Jew in Jordan’s illegally seized lands including the Old City of Jerusalem, and then enacted the antisemitic citizenship law of 1954 which specifically excluded Jews (Article 3).

For its part, the State of Israel specifically welcomed all non-Jews to become “full and equal” citizens when it declared statehood in May 1948. That the Arabs left the fighting scene while they waited for their “saviors” from five invading Arab armies to wipe the Jews into the sea can hardly be called an “expulsion” the way Al Jazeera pretends.

The Reasons Behind the 1967 War

Al Jazeera may have felt a bit soft on the Arab belligerence leading up to the 1967 War as it offered that “the motives behind the war are a point of contention among various historians and analysts,” but then wrote this preposterous rationale:

“Some believed that Israel had “unfinished business” for failing to seize the whole of historic Palestine in the 1948 war. On the eve of the 1967 attack, Israeli minister Yigal Allon wrote: “In … a new war, we must avoid the historic mistake of the War of Independence [1948] … and must not cease fighting until we achieve total victory, the territorial fulfillment of the Land of Israel”.”

Absent from the AJ background were the statements of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser who said on a number of occasions in May 1967:

  • “We are not only confronting Israel but also those who created Israel and who are behind Israel. We are confronting Israel and the West as well”
  • “Preparations have already been made. We are now ready to confront Israel.”
  • “Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want to fight . . . The mining of Sharm el Sheikh is a confrontation with Israel. Adopting this measure obligates us to be ready to embark on a general war with Israel.”
  • “We will not accept any … coexistence with Israel. … Today the issue is not the establishment of peace between the Arab states and Israel …. The war with Israel is in effect since 1948.”
  • “The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel . . . . to face the challenge, while standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab nation. This act will astound the world. Today they will know that the Arabs are arranged for battle, the critical hour has arrived. We have reached the stage of serious action and not declarations.”

None of these calls for war were mentioned by Al Jazeera nor the statements from Cairo radio which included:

  • “This is our chance Arabs, to deal Israel a mortal blow of annihilation, to blot out its entire presence in our holy land” ; and
  • “The Arab people is firmly resolved to wipe Israel off the map”

Instead, AJ continued to invert historical fact by making Israel the attacker.

Al Jazeera was blocked by the UAE and Saudi Arabia in 2017. Maybe they were on to something.

The bad education continues throughout the article in outright lies and complete omissions, such as the Arab world’s infamous “Three No’s” it issued in September 1967 that there would be “no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it,” opting instead to make Israel appear as the aggressor acting unilaterally.

Blind hatred including racism, anti-Zionism and antisemitism do not arise from ignorance; it comes from bad education such as that transmitted by Qatar’s Al Jazeera. And this venom is now found in U.S. homes thanks to former Vice President Al Gore selling his Current TV to Al Jazeera in 2013 for millions of dollars.

Related First One Through articles:

Al Jazeera’s Lies Call for Jihad Against the Jewish State

An Easy Boycott: Al Jazeera (Qatar)

The Jordan Valley in 1930 and 2020

Al Jazeera (Qatar) Evicts Jews and Judaism from Jerusalem. Time to Return the Favor

The Jews of Jerusalem In Situ

Antisemitism Includes the Denial of Jewish History

Abbas’s Speech and the Window into Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism

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Voting the Time Warp: Palestinians 1967 and Democrats 1988

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Many people have their taste in music locked in by their mid-20’s. They typically find it hard to add new artists to their song lists and revert to their old favorites each day.

Similarly, people see their spouses and old friends through old lenses. They don’t really age in their minds who remain as youthful and energetic as their memories allow, not as they truly exist today.

We see this dynamic playing out in politics today as well.

The Palestinian Arabs call for a new state to be established on lands ruled by Jordan and Egypt way back in 1967. The fact that over fifty years have passed since those illegal occupiers were routed by Israel does not seem to faze the leadership of the Palestinian Authority. Many Palestinian Arabs are even more ambitious with seemingly older memories when they chant “we don’t want two states; we want ’48,” in a call to recreate a reality from 1948 before the Jewish State was reborn.

American voters are doing it as well. They have deluded themselves into believing they are voting for Joe Biden as he was in 1988 and not the man as he exists today in 2020. They ignore his clearly compromised facilities and pretend he is up to the task of running the country.

I do not fault people for seeing the world as they want it to be or as they really visualize it. But it is madness to pretend that others share their time-warped perceptions. It is delusional, off-putting and not constructive.

When a fellow American says they cannot vote for a 2020-Joe Biden or an Israeli says that he is not going back in time to set borders from 1948 or 1967, it doesn’t mean that they do not share some common desires like peace in the Middle East or a president that is not Donald Trump. It means that they see the world as it truly exists today and will act accordingly.

Looking at the world through vintage glasses is wonderful when engaging with close friends and family members but is dangerous when negotiating or entering the voting booth. Democrats are doing both when they dismiss the Trump peace plan which considers reality in Israel and its territories, and when they delude themselves into talking about 2020-Joe Biden as if he’s still 1988-Joe Biden.

Related First One Through articles:

Eyes Wide Shut

Schrodinger’s Cat and Oslo’s Egg

When Power Talks the Truth

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

The Peace Proposal Monologues

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For the Sins of 5780…

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… for supporting the antisemitic and racist Black Lives Matter group

… for apologizing to Blacks when Blacks kill Jews

… for pretending that only White people are anti-Semites and that there hasn’t been a spike in Blacks murdering Jews

… for defending rioters attempting to destroy America’s founding principles

… for enabling the Progressive war on Israel

… for believing the news from CNN and The New York Times

… for pretending that the problem is all in social media and not the mainstream media

… for voting for Socialists

… for contributing to alma maters which promote antisemitism

… for donating to J Street

… for using J Street’s tagline “Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace” when it is nothing of the sort

… for giving cover to politicians who slam Jews

… for inviting anti-Israel speakers into our synagogues

… for being silent when liberal politicians sought to funnel money into Gaza

… for considering qualifying or reducing investments in Israel

… for not clearly identifying Hamas as an antisemitic terrorist organization

… for not holding Palestinian Arabs accountable for their actions and statements

… for not advocating for Jewish prayer on the Jewish Temple Mount

… for still referring to a place called “East Jerusalem” which only existed for less than two decades in the 1950’s and 1960’s

… for the cultural appropriation of the term “promised land” and not ascribing it to Jews and Israel

… for saying Donald Trump has done nothing positive for Israel

… for dismissing antisemitism while being particularly sensitive to racism

… for demanding nothing from Jewish leadership

… for fighting against funding police for Jewish institutions

… for pretending that something that makes you feel spiritual is Tikkun Olam and the essence of Judaism

… for not articulating clearly the difference and inter-relationships between Jews, Judaism and Israel

… for not advocating for the dismantling of UNRWA

… for being silent as European countries banned kosher meat

… for not taking COVID-19 seriously

For all these things, please pardon us.

Related First One Through article:

For the Sins of 5777 of…

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New York Times Recharacterizes Hamas as a Right-Wing Terrorist Group

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For years, The New York Times has refused to label Hamas as a designated foreign terrorist organization and instead has opted to call it an “Islamist militant group.” That changed on September 5, 2020 but not for a good reason.

The Times went so far to label the group in its headline, “The Justice Department Charges Two With Trying to Support Terrorist Group Hamas.” It seemed a moment to celebrate the Times finally calling out this horrible antisemitic group. However, the two pictures of White men under the title gave immediate pause.

September 5, 2020 NY Times article

The article said that the “Justice Department on Friday charged two American citizens with ties to a far-right extremist group with trying to support the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas – a case that shows that extremists have sought to turn protests against racism into opportunities to commit violence, but that also runs counter to President Trump’s assertions that those extremists are predominantly from the far left.” It would continue to call a Hamas a terrorist group two more times before continuing that “the Justice Department has predominantly charged members of Boogaloo with crimes, contradicting claims by Mr. Barr and Mr. Trump that far-left extremists are responsible for the violence and crimes that have occurred at protests.”

After a decade of not referring to Hamas as a terrorist group in hundreds of articles which mentioned it, the Times did so FOUR TIMES in a single article as it linked it to a far-right extremist movement. Yet Hamas is not a right-wing movement but an Islamic one, championed by progressives supporting Palestinian Arabs including former Democratic President Jimmy Carter.

The Times is actively moving past its history of ignoring Palestinian Muslim antisemitism and terrorism to actively recharacterizing it as an evil of the right. I wonder whether these efforts will win the praise or scorn of Muslim anti-Zionist Democratic members of Congress like Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).

Related First.One.Through articles:

The New York Times Refuses to Label Hamas a Terrorist Group

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

Strange difference of opinion on Boko Haram and Hamas in New York Times

For The New York Times, “From the River to the Sea” Is The Chant of Jewish and Christian Zealots

The Many Lies of Jimmy Carter

Educating the New York Times: Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood

Even The New York Times Needs to Fire David Halbfinger

What’s “Left” for The New York Times?

Socialists Employ Arabs’ Four Step Battle Plan

NY Times Hails the Heroes of Hamas

Differentiating Hamas

For CNN, The Critical Israeli Facts Have No Murdered Jews

WHY The Progressive Assault on Israel

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The Arab Spring Blooms in the UAE

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The Arab Spring began in December 2010 with a cry for help from a Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire. The self-immolation quickly spread as widespread protests in other Muslim Arab countries where people sought to overturn backwards authoritarian regimes which were not accountable to its citizens. The masses were seemingly tired of the kleptocracy of the ruling class, the lack of investment in education and technology to enable a 21st century economy, as well as arbitrary rules and restrictions in daily lives. The western world assumed the multi-country protests would also lead to modifications to the entrenched religious laws prohibiting basic human rights like converting from Islam and women’s emancipation, and to the elimination of executions for “crimes” like homosexuality and adultery.

The dream faded for both the local Arabs and the West.

The West watched as Egypt threw out its autocratic regime to replace it with a democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood. Much like the Palestinian Arabs who voted the terrorist group Hamas to a majority of its parliament, it seemed that the Arab masses simply craved a different type of authoritarian regime. In short order, the brotherhood was tossed out by an Egyptian military takeover. Three regimes in Egypt in two short years.

The leader in Yemen departed only to have a civil war emerge with Iranian-backed Houthis on one side and Saudi Arabian-backed rebels on the other. There was no celebrating the change in government as death knocked on every door.

The local Arabs in Syria fought their own civil war. The Syrian leader was not able to quash the rebellion with a mere 20,000 dead as his father was able to do in Hama in 1982, and has slaughtered 30 times the number (and counting) with the help of Russia and Iran. Syrians now long for the old status quo when at least they had their lives and homes with the same maniac in charge.

But in August 2020, one small country was able to rise above old hatreds and backwards thinking. The United Arab Emirates announced publicly that it would recognize and normalize relations with Israel. While arguably a non-event for two countries which had never fought a war to establish political and commercial dealings, the break from the regional antisemitic thinking was shocking, meaningful and completely refreshing.

Over the last few years the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decided to allow women to drive, Lebanon became more accepting of homosexuality and now the UAE has reached out to the Jewish State. While it may take many years for the Arab Spring to revolutionize the ruling class, at least some countries are moving past historic antisemitic, homophobic and misogynistic patriarchal sentiments. Hopefully more will follow.

The Tel Aviv municipality building lights up with the UAE flag on August 13, 2020, after the announcement of the Israel-UAE normalization deal brokered by the US. (Tel Aviv municipality/Twitter)

Related First One Through articles:

Is Israel Reforming the Muslim Middle East? Impossible According to The NY Times

Israel Stands Out Regarding Equality for Women

The Best Palestinian Response to the Trump Initiative is Welcoming Jews to Palestine

Maybe Truman Should Not Have Recognized Israel

Both Israel and Jerusalem are Beyond Recognition for Muslim Nations

Enduring Peace versus Peace Now

Time to Dissolve Key Principles of the “Inalienable Rights of Palestinians”

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J Street Shows its Disdain for Israel in Criticism of Pompeo

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US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo broke with traditional norms by addressing the Republican National Convention this week. Various media outlets covered the controversy of a sitting Secretary of State speaking at a political convention when historic practice is that such position is beyond party politics. Consider the headlines:

  • NYTimes: “Radical Break From Tradition: Trump Stages Part of His Convention From the White House”
  • ABCNews: “Pompeo defies his own policy by praising Trump in unprecedented convention speech”
  • Vox: “Mike Pompeo’s RNC speech will place him as the most partisan secretary of state in decades”
  • NBCNews: “Diplomats aghast as Pompeo set to address GOP convention from Jerusalem”
  • Washington Post: “Pompeo stirs up outrage among some diplomats over speech to RNC”

The press was appalled that Pompeo would take a public stance in favor of one political party while he was still actively serving as Secretary of State.

But J Street, a left-wing Pro-Palestinian organization which uses the fig leaf of a missing foreskin to claim it is “Pro-Israel,” was angry at Pompeo for showcasing the various actions the Trump administration took which benefited Israel.

On August 24, J Street posted an attack called “POMPEO’S JERUSALEM RNC SPEECH SHAMELESSLY USES ISRAEL AS A PARTISAN PROP.” Rather than simply focusing on the atypical speech at a convention, J Street said

“The Trump administration continues to break new ground in their shameless efforts to use the state of Israel as a political prop and a partisan football.“

Even the left-wing media didn’t attack Pompeo for speaking from Jerusalem; they simply noted that he should not have been speaking at the convention at all, whether from Washington or Paris. The media was angry at the usage of the OFFICE of the Secretary, not the location from which he spoke.

But J Street knows that there is no better contrast in foreign policy between the Democrats and Republicans than on the subject of the Middle East.

During the Obama administration, J Street aggressively pushed to give Iran a legal pathway to nuclear weapons and to pass a resolution at the United Nations marking Jews living east of the Green Line as illegal. During Trump’s tenure, it lobbied against recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital, moving the US embassy to the city and from withholding financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority while it continues to pay for terrorism.

In lambasting the location of Pompeo’s speech and highlighting Israel, J Street tacitly admits that the policies for which it advocates are ANTI-Israel and the promotion of its agenda into the Democratic Party is the essence of turning Israel into a “partisan football.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaking at the Republican National Convention from Jerusalem, Israel

Related First One Through articles:

J Street: Home for Pro-Palestinian, Pro-Peace Americans

J Street is Only Considered “Pro-Israel” in Progressive Circles

The Evil Architects at J Street Take a Bow

J Street is a Partisan Left-Wing Group, NOT an Alternative to AIPAC

J Street’s Select Appreciation of Transparency

WHY The Progressive Assault on Israel

The Tikkun Olam Brigade and the Taped Banana

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NY Times Hails the Heroes of Hamas

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On August 8, 2020, The New York Times wrote an article praising Hamas for its actions regarding the pandemic while also warning about the destructive actions of Israel.

New York Times article praising Hamas

The article “Covid-19 Spares Gaza, but Travel Restrictions Prove Less Forgiving” noted that

“the blockaded Gaza Strip might be one of the only places in the world where no cases of community transmission of the coronavirus have been recorded – an achievement attributed to the coastal enclave’s isolation as well as the swift measures taken by its militant Hamas rulers…. In March, fearing the potentially disastrous consequences of an outbreak in Gaza, Hamas authorities ordered all travelers returning to the territory from by way of Israel and Egypt to enter quarantine facilities for three weeks. They could not leave quarantine until they had passed two virus tests. The system seemed to have succeeded… Hamas initially instituted other restrictions in Gaza. But it later lifted many of them, enabling residents to follow significant parts of their daily routines. They have been flocking to the beaches, working out in gyms, eating at restaurants, praying at mosques and shopping in markets, among other activities.“

Hamas is highlighted as one of the greatest governing bodies in the world, sparing the Gaza community any deaths while allowing people to enjoy activities that are forbidden in much of the world including going to gyms  and churches. There is no mention that the group is a designated terrorist organization with a founding charter which is the most antisemitic in the world both calling Jews disgusting names and for a jihad to kill them and destroy the Jewish State. The Times never calls Hamas a terrorist group and has now taken the incremental step of praising its leadership.

The Times wasn’t quite through sharing its twisted narrative as it needed to condemn Israel.

The media outlet posted a blow-out clause about the evil occupying forces:

“A fear that Israel is ‘tightening its closure’ on the territory.“

The article also included three pictures, of which the largest two were of women and children. The caption described how the woman was unable to visit her ailing father – because of Israel. The third picture was of a man who wanted to move to Europe because “poverty is rampant,” presumably, also because of Israel, not Hamas’s funneling of resources towards killing Jews.

This is the prevailing theme surrounding the Times’ coverage of the pandemic in Israel, Israeli territories and the Palestinian territories.

On April 9 the Times wrote how “[Palestinian Prime Minister] Shtayyeh’s administration earned broad approval for its aggressive response to an early outbreak,” even “as extremist Jewish settlers take advantage of the West Bank emergency by assaulting farmers, damaging property and trespassing or squatting on Palestinian land.” For the Times, Palestinians are noted for good governance while Israelis are terrible right-wing violent racists.

The Times does not tell its readers that the death rate in Jordan from the pandemic stands at only 1 person per million, even better than their cousins in the Palestinian territories which are at 19 per million, roughly the same as Israeli Arabs. The Times will not posit that the reason could be from their common culture or DNA rather than actions of the leadership and circumstances.

For the New York Times, autocrats fail the tests of handling the coronavirus while noble governments led by Socialists and women – and the Palestinians – fair well. For the liberal rag, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are “resistance movements”, not authoritarian racist regimes, welcomed into the community of the woke.

Related First One Through articles:

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

Toronto Star Sanitizes Hamas During Pandemic

Liberal Senators Look to Funnel Money into Gaza

The Proud Fathers of Palestinian Terrorists

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The Cultural Appropriation of the Jewish ‘Promised Land’

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Various segments of western society have become critical about “cultural appropriation” in which the majority group adopts customs of another group without explicitly acknowledging its origins, as to do so would be both stealing and effectively wiping out the essence of the minority culture. The issue is even more concerning when the majority group’s acts of appropriation specifically target religious and holy items of minority groups.

There is no greater example of this trend than the broad theft of the Jewish “Promised Land.”

In Genesis 12, God tells Abraham to leave his home “to the land that I will show you.” When he passed through Shechem (Nablus) God said “I will assign this land to your offspring.” It is a speech which God would repeat throughout the Bible to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel) and the Children of Israel, that this specific land was promised “as an everlasting possession.” (Genesis 17:8) It is a core belief of Judaism.

Over time, non-Jewish musicians and poets would use the phrase “Promised Land” as a generic destination without noting its specific identity to the land of Israel for Jews. Chuck Berry sang about it (later covered by Elvis) in reference to California as a destination for his music to reach the masses. Bruce Springsteen sang about the “promised land” as a place of yearning, a mental and spiritual destination beyond current problems.

When Arab invaders brought Islam into Israel in the seventh and eighth centuries, they seized Jewish holy sites like the Tomb of the Jewish Matriarchs and Patriarchs in Hebron and turned it into a mosque. They built the Dome of the Rock atop the Jewish Temple Mount. The Muslims even adopted the notion of a “waqf” as a religious holy space. As opposed to Jews who viewed the land of Israel as holy because it was promised to them by God, Muslims believe that anywhere Muslims conquered and established the supremacy of Islam became a Muslim holy land. As such, Muslims attempted to erase the physical Jewish Promised Land as a land of their own.

Politicians mostly avoid using the term “Promised Land.” They might note that Israel is a “Holy Land” which is “sacred to Jews and Christians and Muslims” as President Obama noted in a national prayer breakfast in 2014, stripping the uniqueness of the Promised Land for Jews. When Obama did use the term “Promised Land” it was as a metaphor for when Black children will have full equality to live in an America devoid of bigotry and racism.

The worst and most feared element of cultural appropriation happens constantly in regards to the “Promised Land,” in which it is either used generically as a metaphor without any connection to Jews, or when applied to the physical land of Israel, it is noted as holy to the three monotheistic faiths and not uniquely promised to the Children of Israel.

We should aspire to follow the example of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. whose final speech in 1968 pulled together the story of the Jewish Promised Land in connection with his desire for a more perfect society:

“Something is happening in Memphis; something is happening in our world. And you know, if I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of taking a kind of general and panoramic view of the whole of human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, “Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?” I would take my mental flight by Egypt and I would watch God’s children in their magnificent trek from the dark dungeons of Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the promised land. And in spite of its magnificence, I wouldn’t stop there…

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!“

The “promised land” is commonly used as a metaphor for a perfect society. Let’s strive for that perfection by acknowledging that its foundation is the Jewish State of Israel.

Related First One Through articles:

Martin Luther King and Zionism

The Cave of the Jewish Matriarch and Arab Cultural Appropriation

Linda Sarsour as Pontius Pilate

The Remarkable Tel Jerusalem

The Jewish Holy Land

Jews, Judaism and Israel

The Nation of Israel Prevails

“Flowing with Milk and Honey”

Today’s Inverted Chanukah: The Holiday of Rights in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria

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NY Times Ignores Centrality of the Jewish Temple Mount

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On July 31, 2020, the New York Times wrote a moving piece about the annual pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the hajj. It described how the coronavirus limited the number of people who could attend the hajj this year and the various steps which the kingdom undertook to try to protect the health of the smaller gathering to Islam’s holiest location.

I looked to see if the Times covered the solemn day of the Ninth of Av (July 30, 2020), when Jews traveled to Jerusalem, the Western Wall and the Jewish Temple Mount to mourn the destruction of the first and second temples. While Jewish media outlets like the Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel wrote about it, the Times ignored the story.

The Times did write a 1,300-word article about the Temple Mount on May 15, 2020 when it described how Muslims could not visit the site for Ramadan because of the pandemic. It seemed that Islam’s third holiest site which has no specific connection to Ramadan was an important focus for the liberal paper even as it ignored writing about the pandemic’s impact on Jews visiting their holiest site on Jewish holidays.

I looked back further to see if the Times covered any of the three Jewish holidays which call upon Jews to visit Jerusalem and the Temple Mount: Shavuot (celebrated May 28-30, 2020), Passover (celebrated April 8-19 this year) and Sukkot (which will be celebrated October 2-9, 2020). It did.

On March 30 it published an article “For Shut-In Pilgrims, the World’s Holiest Sites Are a Click Away,” which covered Jerusalem, Mecca and Rome. While Mecca was devoted to Muslims and Rome to Christians, the Times described Jerusalem from the vantage point of “Passover, Easter and Ramadan — touchstone holidays of three major religions.” Not only was Judaism not worthy of a unique article as was Islam (twice, in May and July), but when an article was written, the other monotheistic faiths were also covered, AND when Judaism’s holiest city was mentioned, it was noted as holy to other faiths as well.

Christianity and Islam pushed their religions globally for over one thousand years, converting and killing non-believers. Their numbers now count in the billions and their faithful are spread around the globe, while the Jewish population was decimated with only about 15 million people today, of which 84% live in Israel and the United States. Arguably the paltry sum of Jews makes them barely worth mentioning to global papers.

But it’s the deliberate denial of Jewish Jerusalem that irks me.

The July 31 NY Times article explained to its readers that “the hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, is required for all Muslims who are physically and financially able to go at least once in their lifetimes.” ONCE IN THEIR LIFETIMES. Why only once? Because there are 1.8 billion Muslims living all over the world. After pushing the religion around the globe it is impossible for so many people to come to Islam’s holiest city every year.

In contrast, Judaism calls on all Jews to visit Jerusalem and the Temple Mount THREE TIMES EVERY YEAR. It calls on Jews to do this because the religion was not orchestrated to spread to the corners of the world with forced conversions on the masses, inflating the numbers of adherents. Judaism was designed as a local religion for a small nation, in the Jewish holy land with its holy city in the center.

I appreciate the beautiful article The New York Times wrote about Mecca and Islam. I wonder if it will ever write with such sensitivity about the Jews, Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple Mount.

Related First One Through articles:

It is Time to Insert “Jewish” into the Names of the Holy Sites

There is No Jewish Temple Mount for The New York Times

The New York Times All Out Assault on Jewish Jerusalem

It’s the Temple Mount, Not the Western Wall

Names and Narrative: CNN’s Temple Mount/ Al Aqsa Complex Inversion

Tolerance at the Temple Mount

The Green Line Through Jerusalem

Antisemitism Includes the Denial of Jewish History

The Nerve of ‘Judaizing’ Neighborhoods

Palestineism is Toxic Racism

I Understand Why the Caged Jew Sighs

The Remarkable Tel Jerusalem

The Cave of the Jewish Matriarch and Arab Cultural Appropriation

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Replacing the Jordanian Waqf on The Temple Mount

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After Israel defeated the attacking Jordanian army in June 1967, it allowed the Jordanian Islamic Waqf to have administrative control of the Jewish Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem while Israel controlled the security of the area. In 1980, Israel officially applied sovereignty and reunited the city of Jerusalem as its eternal capital but still allowed the Jordanian Waqf to administer Judaism’s holiest site. And in Israel’s 1994 peace treaty with Jordan, the country continued to be sensitive to Jordan, stating “Israel respects the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem. When negotiations on the permanent status will take place, Israel will give high priority to the Jordanian historic role in these shrines.”

However, in recent months, Jordan has come out very aggressively against Israel’s contemplated application of sovereignty over more of the west bank of the Jordan River.

In May 2020, Jordanian Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz said “We will not accept unilateral Israeli moves to annex Palestinian lands and we would be forced to review all aspects of our relations with Israel.” King Abdullah also said that if Israel “really annexes the West Bank in July, it would lead to a massive conflict with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.”

In light of the statements and contemplated reaction by Jordan, it makes sense for Israel to approach both Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to see if they would be interested in taking over the role of the Jordanian Waqf in Jerusalem.

Egypt has maintained a peace treaty with Israel since 1979 and there is a good working relationship with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Israel’s relationship with KSA has improved in recent years, especially because of the countries mutual distrust of Iran. As the guardian of Mecca and Medina, KSA would logically welcome the role to extend its guardianship of Islamic holy sites, and the move could be part of an important peace treaty with Saudi Arabia.

The Old City of Jerusalem including the Jewish Temple Mount/ Al Aqsa Compound during the Jewish holiday of Passover

Jordan’s threat to abandon its peace agreement with Israel is an opening for Israel to offer Saudi Arabia a place in Jerusalem and to forge a new peace agreement with the powerful kingdom. In light of the Trump Administration’s deep ties with KSA, it makes sense to advance those initiatives now.

Related First.One.Through articles:

Jordan’s King Abdullah II Fights to Retain His Throne

Oh Abdullah, Jordan is Not So Special

Time for King Abdullah of Jordan to Denounce the Mourabitoun

The Waqf and the Temple Mount

Hamas Charter, Articles 11 and 12

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