An Open Letter To Israel’s Diaspora Minister

Posted on March 5, 2023 by First.One.Through

Very few countries in the world have a position in the government for descendants of the country’s original inhabitants who live abroad. Only one also has non-governmental organizations to combat the hatred of those persecuted members in the diaspora.

Israel.

The Jewish State of Israel was founded on three central beliefs of Modern Zionism: that Jews are a people who originate in the land of Israel; they have a right to self-determination and sovereignty in their homeland; and that their country will not only be a safe haven against Jew-hatred, but will combat noxious anti-Semitism around the world.

Today, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs is Amichai Chikli. Born in Jerusalem, he is the son of a Tunisian Conservative rabbi. His governmental position is to strengthen the bonds between Israel and Jews of the diaspora.

*Israeli MK Amichai Chikli (Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)*

Outside of the government, the World Zionist Organization promotes Zionism, and is a vehicle for world Jewry to interface with Israel. Nerya Meir assumed the head of the Diaspora Department and Raheli Baratz-Rix heads the WZO’s Department for Combatting Antisemitism. Last year, Prime Minister Yair Lapid appointed the actress Noa Tishby to a new position of Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and Delegitimization.

This letter is for each of them.

To Israel’s leaders to Diaspora Jewry,

We know that Israel is very busy with countless issues, and the roles each of you play to ensure a strong bond between the Jewish State and Diaspora Jewry is always appreciated.

We are keenly aware of how the nature of our relationship has changed since the re-establishment of the Jewish State in 1948: from a nascent struggling country fighting for survival seeking bodies and funds from diaspora, to a thriving democracy in the heart of an illiberal Middle East with the greatest concentration of Jews anywhere for the first time in almost two thousand years. The modern state welcomes Jewish immigrants, visitors and investment, while it no longer feels they are critical to its survival.

There are a few things to keep in mind as we enter this stage of our relationship.

The United States

Since 1948, the Diaspora has changed remarkably. In 1948, at the country’s founding, there were 34 countries with over 25,000 Jews. Today there are only 17, half that number. To put that in context, the 15 non-U.S. diaspora countries with over 25,000 Jews stands in contrast to 27 U.S. cities with more than 25,000 Jews.

Two countries – Israel and the United States – account for roughly 85% of world Jewry, with the U.S. accounting for 73% of the Jewish diaspora. While the U.S. does not define the diaspora, it is the most significant country by a very wide margin.

There are eight other diaspora countries which have over one percent of diaspora Jews living there, but only two of them – France and the United Kingdom – are also significant trading partners with Israel and members of the United Nations Security Council. Some of the other countries – like Argentina and Russia – have declining Jewish populations and should be viewed as countries for Israel to target for aliyah, rather than as significant long-term outposts of global Jewry.

Diaspora Anti-Semitism and Terrorism

Historically (the 1970s through 2010s), anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist attacks occurred in world capitals such as Athens, Rome, Istanbul, Paris, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Mumbai and London. Fanatics burst into synagogues, Jewish community centers and kosher restaurants and killed as many people as possible.

While the scourge has not left major international cities, the current trend in violence is more prevalent in American cities such as Pittsburgh, PA, Colleyville, TX, Jersey City, NJ and Poway, CA. It shouldn’t be a surprise: there are three times as many Jews in Pittsburgh (42,000) than in all of Turkey (14,300).

The same is true for Jews living in the Israeli territories east of the 1949 Armistice Lines (E49AL). While there are 25 countries in the world with over 10,000 Jews (including the U.S. and Israel), there are nine cities (and growing) in E49AL with such totals. Almost all have experienced attacks.

The facts above have been true for many years but have not penetrated the minds of most people. Part of the reason is attacks on Jews in European cities and E49AL is almost always tied to anti-Zionism, easily triggered in societies with centuries of ingrained anti-Semitism. This is in contrast to attacks in the United States which arise from anti-Semitism in a country established on the basis of religious freedom.

This is changing.

While the Israel-Gaza war in 2014 saw a sharp rise in anti-Semitic attacks in Europe, there were virtually none in the United States. Not so for the eleven day skirmish in May 2021, when gangs assaulted Jews all over the country. Jonathan Greenblatt of the ADL said during that time that “the brazenness, the audacity of these assaults in broad daylight. We have seen people basically say, if you are wearing a Jewish star, you must be a Zionist and you should be killed…. we have unhinged, fictionalized conspiracies about Israel, that somehow the Jewish State is systematically slaughtering children or committing genocide. And then that leads to real-world attacks on Jewish people in the streets of America, on our campuses, in our communities.”

It is in the streets of dozens of American cities that the danger of anti-Semitism is now the most pressing, and the scourge is increasingly tied to anti-Zionism.

America’s Jewish Cities and Universities

The 27 cities in the United States with over 25,000 Jews are not only in the biggest states which are solidly Democratic as popularly believed. While many are found in New York, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts and Illinois, a growing number are in Florida, Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

As shown in the table above, fifteen of the top 27 U.S. cities are located in solidly Democratic states per the 2020 presidential election. Seven cities were found in Republican states and five were in swing states.

Beyond these major Jewish population centers, are cities with universities with significant Jewish populations, many of which are suffering from anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist violence and rhetoric.

Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism have also spread to universities with significant Jewish populations in cities with relatively few Jews. Those include Brown University in Providence, RI (14,200 Jews) and Duke University in Durham, NC (12,000).

As an example, in February 2022, Duke passed a resolution which condemned anti-Semitism which included using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism which covered anti-Zionism. This was likely in response to vile anti-Semitic and anti-Israel speakers at the campus in 2019 as covered by a Ami Horowitz video. However, by March 2022, the Duke Student Government was sponsoring Student for Justice in Palestine events featuring noted anti-Zionist and anti-Semite Mohammed El-Kurd. The AMCHA Initiative has long tracked how universities with an SJP chapter are much more likely to have anti-Semitic incidents on campus.

College campuses have become fertile ground for extreme fundamentalist governments including Qatar and Saudi Arabia to pour over $1 billion to influence the next generation of students. Leading schools which have taken their money include Columbia University, Tufts University, the University of Southern California, George Washington University, NYU, MIT, Harvard, Georgetown and Carnegie Mellon. The Arab states have used their oil wealth to export the demonization of the Jewish State and Jews around the world.

And the impetus for exporting their hatred onto American shores is their hatred for Israel. Killing the Jewish State’s strongest supporter is a key aim of anti-Zionists.

Israel’s Fight Against Anti-Semitism in America

It is noble and appreciated that Israel is taking up the fight against global anti-Semitism.

Minister Chikli, you talked about the diaspora community and suggested that small communities might be best served by making aliyah to Israel, and plan on investing a good portion of your 500 million NIS budget in the education of the larger communities. This is wise. While it will be difficult for Israel to match the dollars of the Muslim Gulf states going into America’s leading universities, it can invest in the middle and high schools of the United States’ largest Jewish cities.

America’s Jews and communities are mostly well-off and well-organized. We have numerous Jewish schools, synagogues, community centers and Israel advocacy groups, especially compared to the other countries in the diaspora. But there are things that must come from Israel to the various cities listed above to help fight the rising anti-Semitism. Here is the start of a list:

Israelis and Israeli products in the schools and markets
Collaboration between American universities and companies and those in Israel
Eloquent and well versed Israelis on news channels
Establish pro-Jewish narratives
Bi-partisanship, connecting with all streams of Judaism
Open and clear communication between Israel and U.S. Jewish leaders

Israelis and Israeli products in the schools and markets

Getting young Israelis into cities across the United States with programs like shinshinim should be expanded. The Israelis get a better appreciation for America, and Americans get a first-hand account of what is happening in Israel, not from the news or textbooks, but from young Israelis living in the Jewish State.

The BDS (boycott, divest and sanction) movement against Israel should not only be fought legally but on the ground. Getting lots of Israeli products and brands into stores should be a priority of the Israeli government, not just the Israeli companies.

Collaboration between American universities and companies and those in Israel

Israeli universities and companies are in a good position to continue to leverage their leading research and technological prowess to collaborate with American institutions. An active bi-lateral flow of human and financial capital can cement positive long-term relationships.

Eloquent and well versed Israelis on American media

Israel must develop a comprehensive team of fluent English speakers who are adept at public relations on a range of topics. The most glaring problems are when Israeli spokespersons cannot handle basic questions on television when Israel is in a conflict. The government must have a team of people in constant dialogue with the full range of American media on political, economic, cultural, religious, historical and scientific matters.

Establish pro-Jewish narratives

It is very important to establish and correct information that is being propagated in the media and on campuses, but the Israeli government must do more to craft the narratives. For example, not only should the statistics about the Arab population in Jerusalem and Israel be laid out to dismiss the ridiculous charges of genocide and ethnic cleansing, but stories of real people should be featured. The world loves a good story, and Israel is more than capable of humanizing the liberal country it has built in the heart of the illiberal Middle East.

Bi-partisanship, connecting with all streams of Judaism

As described above, there are Democratic and Republican Jews and they live in a range of cities. It is imperative for Israel to maintain good relations with both parties, ESPECIALLY as the divide in the country grows.

Similarly, it is important for Israel to connect with all the streams of Judaism which are much more common in the United States than in Israel and the rest of the diaspora. The Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative branches of Judaism are much larger than the Modern and Ultra Orthodox streams. Those liberals tend to be much more critical of religious and nationalistic actions by Israel, while the more Orthodox tend to be more likely to make aliyah. Israel needs to keep a good relationship with each community.

Open and clear communication between Israel and U.S. Jewish leaders

The last item on this short list is for good lines of direct communication. If the government of Israel is directly communicating with American Jewish leaders, hopefully it will prevent Jewish leaders from lobbying the U.S. government to take actions against Israel, as J Street did aggressively, in pushing the Obama Administration to allow UN Security Council Resolution 2334 to pass.

Israel is at a very sensitive moment in history with Iran on the verge of obtaining nuclear weapons capability, and the largest percentage of West Bank Arabs itching for violence against Jewish civilians in twenty years. At the same time, American Jewry is more divided as it faces growing anti-Semitism, a break from historic norms when Jews normally come together when faced with Jew hatred.

The global fight against anti-Semitism can be won with Israeli and American forces acting together with common purpose. We look forward to working together with you at this important time in history.

Best,

The readers of First One Through

The Campus Inquisition

The United States Should NOT be a Neutral Mediator in the Arab-Israel Conflict

Hamas And Harvard Proudly Declare Their Anti-Semitism And Anti-Zionism

Courageous Jews On Hostile Campuses

Is Columbia University Promoting Violence Against Israel and Jews?

Jews, Judaism and Israel

Neo Nazis’ Day Of Hate; Radical Jihadists’ Day Of Rage

Posted on February 26, 2023 by First.One.Through

Anti-Semites around the world suffer terribly. Consumed by hatred for Jews, they often feel that their sentiments need a broader outlet. They seek the comradery of others who despise Jews, and public forums to attack those they believe are stains on mankind.

In February 2023 in Orlando, FL, Neo Nazis stood outside a Chabad house and taunted Jews with chants of ‘Heil Hitler’, and asked how many Jews could fit in a barbecue grill and how many Palestinian Arabs they killed. White Supremacist groups called for February 25, 2023 to be a ‘Day of Hate‘ to gather momentum for attacks on Jews.

The Neo Nazis’ ‘Day of Hate’ seems to be modeled off of radical Muslims calls for a ‘Day of Rage’ frequently in the Middle East. Not content with simply voting the political-terrorist group Hamas to a majority of Palestinian parliament with the most anti-Semitic foundational charter ever written, and polls which show how Palestinians support violent attacks on Jewish civilians in Israel, the jihadists sometimes need to rally their anti-Semitic brethren.

Consider when Israel rebuilt the Hurva Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem in 2010 which the Jordanian army had blown up in 1949. Palestinians called for a ‘Day of Rage‘ with hundreds of Palestinian Arabs attacking Jews. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (I guess meaning only for Arabs) released a statement which “strongly condemns recent measures taken by Israel in East Jerusalem, the latest of which has been the inauguration of a synagogue in the old city. PCHR holds Israel responsible for the escalation of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory.“

The sick symmetry.

Neo Nazis come for Jews in their houses of worship in the United States because they hate the presence of Jews in their goal of a purely White Christian society. Radical Islamists come for Jews in their synagogues in Israel because they believe the land is purely Muslim. Both sinister radical groups consider Jews to be vile whose basic physical presence is an affront to their sensibilities to be fought en masse.

David Duke, the Grand Wizard of the KKK reached out to radical jihadists like Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to join forces against the Jews. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) invoked Nazi stereotypes about the Jews seemingly in an effort to reach out to Nazis.

The United Nations and global media have rightfully denounced the Neo Nazis but have pathetically rallied to support anti-Semitic Muslims. The Nazis and jihadists don’t care, and will bond together to attack the most persecuted minority in the world. Perhaps they will unite under the banner of radical jihadists, who have wrongfully gathered global sympathies with abundant resources.

At least until the Islamic State of Iran initiates its own genocide of Jews.

Neo Nazis (with no government and media support) and Islamic radicals (with tremendous government and media support) are rallying fellow anti-Semites to take on the Jews wherever they live and pray. White Supremacists have joined the global jihad against the same Jewish infidels while the world considers which dead Jews deserved it.

https://firstonethrough.wordpress.com/2014/09/28/pick-your-jihad-pick-your-infidel/

David Duke, Ilhan Omar and the Three Lenses of Anti-Semitism

Rashida Tlaib’s Modern ‘Mein Kampf’

Conspiracy Theories About Jewish Power and Control

The Re-Introduction of the ‘Powerful’ Jew Smear

How Many Jews?

Watching Jews

Considering Nazis and Radical Islam on the 75th Anniversary of D-Day

The United Nations Ignores Radical Muslim Violent Extremism and Terrorism

Coexistence Runs Through UAE, Anti-Semitism Through UN

Posted on February 21, 2023 by First.One.Through

The Abraham Accords struck between Israel and several Arab Muslim countries including the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco in 2020, have continued to advance the cause of peaceful coexistence.

On February 20, 2023, the U.A.E. invited many Jewish guests to be part of the opening ceremony of the first new synagogue in a Muslim country in generations. The Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue is part of the multi-faith Abrahamic Family House complex in Abu Dhabi which also includes a mosque and a church. The three places of worship sit beside one another in an effort to show harmony between the different faiths.

Beyond the proximity of each house of worship, the architects took care in designing each building: the mosque faces the Islamic holy city of Mecca, the church faces east towards the rising sun, and the synagogue faces Jerusalem, Judaism’s holist city.

*Abrahamic Family Complex in Abu Dhabi, UAE*

On that same February day, the United Nations took the polar opposite approach towards religious coexistence as the U.N. Security Council issued a statement condemning Jews and Judaism.

The official statement was a litany of complaints on the presence of Jews in their holy land. It expressed “strong opposition” to Jews building homes east of the 1949 Armistice Lines (E49AL). It condemned Israel’s killing Islamic terrorists planning attacks on Jewish civilians. It demanded that Jews continue to be forbidden from praying at the holiest site on the Jewish Temple Mount. And it urged that Jews and Christians take a backseat to Muslims when the holidays of Ramadan, Easter and Passover overlap this year, prioritizing Muslim access to Jerusalem over believers of the other faiths.

Remarkably, the “most right-wing government in Israeli history” as portrayed in the media, acquiesced to the anti-Semitic proposals. The Israeli government said that it would keep the “status quo” of banning Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount and would ban Jews from the site during the last ten days of Ramdan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also reportedly told the United States that it won’t authorize new Jewish towns in E49AL for the next few months and will limit incursions into Palestinian Authority towns to arrest terrorists.

While the United Arab Emirates works for religious coexistence, the United Nations works to foment religious animosity and segregation. If there’s a future for peace and coexistence in the region, it will run through the U.A.E. and not the U.N..

The United Nations and Holy Sites in the Holy Land

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

The Arab Spring Blooms in the UAE

“Palestinians and Israelis Alike are Experiencing Growing Insecurity, Growing Fear in Their Places of Worship”

The Inalienable Right of Jews to Pray on The Temple Mount

Looking At Data Ignored By NY Times In New York’s Kiryas Joel Hasidic Schools

Posted on February 20, 2023 by First.One.Through

The New York Times did a series on the Ultra-Orthodox schools and how they “fail and steal tax dollars on purpose.” The hit pieces were designed to show that the schools bilk taxpayers of hundreds of millions of dollars and then fail to teach basic subjects like English and math.

All of the work was done by Times researchers and the data is therefore their own, as are their conclusions.

On February 20, 2023, The Times extended the effort and came for the suburban town of Kiryas Joel with what it claimed were public records.

So it with interest to read a report from WalletHub that ranked “2023’s Most & Least Educated States in America.” While New York came in at #14, WBLK posted the New York districts with the worst college graduation rates. The bottom five were:

Mount Pleasant-Cottage Union Free (Westchester County) – 6% Graduation Rate In 2022
Kendall Central (Orleans County) – 3% Graduation Rate In 2022
Kiryas Joel Village Union Free (Orange County) – 0% Graduation Rate In 2022
Greenburgh-Graham Union Free (Westchester County) – 0% Graduation Rate In 2022
Mount Pleasant-Blythedale Union Free (Westchester County) – 0% Graduation Rate In 2022

Tied for the bottom was Kiryas Joel, seemingly confirming the conclusion of the New York Times, that Hasidic schools are failing with 0% of the students graduating college.

It is curious that the school wasn’t an outlier but had company of non-Hasidic school districts, which begs further inspection.

Mount Pleasant-Blythedale is a school set up inside a children’s hospital, enabling sick students to learn. According to U.S. News, the school has 126 students which are 70% minority. All of the teachers are certified and about 91% have at least three years of experience. The test scores show about 10% of the students proficient in math and 10% in Reading. The cost per student is roughly $55,000.

Greenburgh-Graham school district was established to help students who were failing in other schools due to academic or emotional challenges. The school is estimated to have around 300 students with a 1:1 student ratio. U.S. News does not have a breakdown of the students but shares that 75% of the students have Reading proficiency but no data on mathematics. The cost per student is roughly $210,000.

Before getting to the statistics on the Ultra-Orthodox school, a review of the other two non-religious schools is worthwhile for comparative purposes.

Kendall is a large school district with 712 students according to U.S. News, of which 10% are minority and almost 49% are economically disadvantaged. All of the teachers are certified and 97.5% have three or more years of experience. The student: teacher ratio is 10:1. The district has elementary, middle and high schools with mathematics and reading scores in each that are higher than state averages, and has a very different message than WalletHub, showing a 92.7% high school graduation rate. If only 3% are graduating college, it likely means many cannot afford to attend. The cost per student is about $26,000.

Mount Pleasant-Cottage school district was set up for students with emotional and cognitive disabilities. According to U.S. News, there are 116 students of which 92% are minority. Only 93% of the teachers are certified, 66% have more than three years of experience and the student-teacher ratio is 6-to-1. The students showed a 5% and 10% proficiency in math and English, respectively, way below the state averages. No data on costs.

As seen above, the state provides special schools for students with needs – whether emotional, physical or cognitive. Many of the students with these challenges perform below the general population in reading and math.

So, now consider Kiryas Joel.

The school district was established to help the emotional and cognitively challenged students of the Satmar sect of Hasidic Jews in 1989. People in the town sued over its establishment in a case that went to the Supreme Court in 1994, in which the judges concluded that the creation of a distinctly Jewish school district ran afoul of the establishment clause regarding religion.

The court said nothing about the need for a school to service students with special needs. Eventually the school district prevailed and was established in 1999.

According to U.S. News, there are 121 students, all of whom are White. All of the teachers are certified and 87.5% have three or more years of experience. The student-teacher ratio is 5:1, below the state average of 14:1. The students show a 75% proficiency in math and 75% in English, far above the state averages and the other schools profiled above. The cost per student is about $253,000. Compared to the other schools, it gets much more federal and state funding.

Note: the data from the National Center for Education Statistics is quite different. For example, Greenburgh-Graham UFSD shows a cost per student of $394,000, not $210,000. This was above that of Kiryas Joel at $340,000 per student.

While the students in Kiryas Joel do not go on to secular college (and therefore score a 0% in the WalletHub ranking), the school is performing relatively well by every measure compared to its peers.

Despite the data, The New York Times performed an extensive analysis in which the secular paper concluded that Ultra-Orthodox Jews were sucking money out of the public school system and refusing to educate their students. The paper pushed for a thorough governmental review of the Jewish schools, but not any of the non-Jewish ones at the bottom of the WalletHub list. The Times did not devote any resources to examine why the Greenburgh-Graham UFSD spends much more per student than Kiryas Joel.

*The New York Times is trying its best to inflame anti-Jewish emotions with a series of articles that make ultra-Orthodox Jews appear to steal money from public schools*

New York State established many school districts for students with emotional, cognitive and physical needs, and makes a special effort for those with economic hardship. In the Ultra-Orthodox town of Kiryas Joel, where 40% of the population is below the poverty level (poverty level is correlated with size of family and the Haredi community has very large families), the 120 students in the special public school district are showing that they can excel, despite what the mainstream media is reporting.

The Economics Behind The Times’ Hasidic School Article

NY Times Horrible Take On Failing Hasidic Schools

Politicians In Their Own Words: Why We Don’t Support Defending Jews

Re-education: Israel is The Jewish Homeland, Not Just A Safe Haven

Posted on February 11, 2023 by First.One.Through

The New York Times wrote an article about the massive number of migrants from Latin America coming first into Texas, then New York, and ultimately bused to Canada. It relayed the scary journey in search of a better life.

The harrowing trip concluded with a quote from a woman who traversed the many miles upon arriving in Canada, “‘This is going to be our Israel,’ Mrs. Ramirez said.” I’m sure she meant it in a positive way: that she had finally arrived in a safe haven, away from the tumult that had been her life. She considered herself like the Jews who had escaped the war in Europe, and arrived in the land of Israel.

Her universalizing the Jews and making her trek to her own “Promised Land” was not sinister but her trivialization calls for her education, and a re-education of the world regarding three important differentiators between refugees and migrants generally, and the unique story of the Jews.

Jews Were a Targeted Minority

Tens of millions of people from Latin America are seeking a better life, away from gang violence, broken economies, poverty and political corruption. Almost every citizen from the region is seeking peace and security that their native countries do not provide.

That is in sharp contrast to Jews.

The Jews who came to Israel from Europe around the Holocaust were specifically targeted for annihilation. They were not simply war refugees like millions of others who fled battle grounds but a persecuted minority ear-marked for ethnic cleansing.

The Jews from Arab Muslim lands were persecuted from the 1950s through 1980s, with governmental decrees and street pogroms. The general public did not flee their home countries in search of something better; they sought something better by driving Jews from their midst.

So it was in Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere. Jews were singled out for persecution and had a particular need for salvation.

Israel is The Jewish Homeland

Venezuelans arriving in Canada have no roots in the land. They could have unpacked their bags as easily in Texas or Toronto.

But Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel. They have thousands of years of well-known history, including kings and judges who ruled in the land.

Further, Judaism is a unique religion which is tied to a specific piece of land. It is a particular religion for a specific people with commandments which can only be kept in their holy land.

The Need for Sovereignty

The migrants from around Latin America will be happy to settle in Seattle or Saskatchewan. They have no aspirations to remake their new countries, and will be happy to become Americans or Canadians. They just want rights and self-determination, and have no vision of transforming their new governments.

Not so for Jews in Israel.

Because of the persistence of anti-Semitism around the globe for centuries, modern Zionism concluded that Jews need more than a safe haven. Jews must be able to determine their future under a Jewish flag. History has shown that self determination without sovereignty would only yield a temporary respite from anti-Semitism.

Zionism is not a rally of charged nationalism but the reality born from relentless persecution.

Zionism is not a rally of charged nationalism but the reality born from relentless persecution.
First One Through

The story of the Jewish people and their Promised Land is captured in the most widely read book, replayed globally over the last two millennia. While migrants and refugees echoing those verses for personal reflection might therefore feel natural, remembering the uniqueness of the Jewish journey to the re-established Jewish State might curb the anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism roaring around the world once more.

The Cultural Appropriation of the Jewish ‘Promised Land’

The Lies Conflating the Holocaust and The Promised Land

The Jewish Holy Land

A Core Tenet of Zionism Is Combatting Anti-Semitism

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

Posted on February 2, 2023 by First.One.Through

The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued two rebukes about the slaughter of Jewish and Muslim worshipers at the end of January. While some words about the shooting of Jews outside a synagogue in Jerusalem and a bombing of a mosque in Pakistan were common, some stood in sharp contrast.

Issue	Israel Attack 1/27/23	Pakistan Attack 1/30/23
Condemnation	“strongly condemns”	“strongly condemns”
Condolence	“heartfelt condolences”	“heartfelt condolences”
Disgust	“particularly abhorrent that the attack occurred at a place of worship… there is never any excuse for acts of terrorism.”	“particularly abhorrent that the attack occurred at a place of worship. Freedom of religion or belief, including the ability to worship in peace and security, is a universal human right.”
Solidarity	NONE	“reiterates solidarity of the United Nations with the Government and people of Pakistan…”
Address Terrorism	“deeply worried about the current escalation of violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. This is the moment to exercise the utmost restraint.”	“… in their efforts to address terrorism and violent extremism.”

Comments of the UN Secretary General in January 2023

Gutteres had enough brains to strongly condemn both heinous attacks and offer his condolences to the victims. But after that, his brain fell out.

The head of the U.N. understands that freedom of religion and ability to worship in peace is a fundamental human right… except for Jews for some reason. Guterres seemingly omitted saying it for Jews because he supports radical jihadists who demand that Jews be forbidden from praying at their holiest location on the Jewish Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

He didn’t offer solidarity with the government and people of Israel as he did for Pakistan because he somehow has a misguided view that condemning Palestinian terrorism would be taking sides in the conflict, instead of taking a strong stand against terrorism. Offering meek words that “there is no excuse for terrorism” to Palestinians is outrageous. It suggests that the world is actually reading their genocidal manifesto and considering its validity, something never considered for any other terrorist.

And significantly, telling Pakistan (and the whole world) – OTHER THAN ISRAEL – that the U.N. stands with them in their effort to combat “terrorism and violent extremism,” empowers the anti-Semitic Palestinians who flatly reject coexistence with the Jewish State, to continue their extremist genocidal ways.

The U.N. must finally support Jews like any other people- with freedom to worship in peace, and to address the terrorism and violent extremism of their anti-Semitic violent neighbors.

Amid The Terror, The United Nations Once Again Protects Palestinians

The United Nations’ Incitement to Violence

What’s “Outrageous” for the United Nations

Gazans Support Killing Jewish Civilians

A Unique Evil: Jenin And Holocaust Remembrance Day

Posted on January 27, 2023 by First.One.Through

In November 2005, the United Nations decided to mark the anniversary of the liberation of the few surviving Jews from the Auschwitz Death Camp in Poland on January 27, 1945, as an International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On that day, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that the Holocaust is “a unique evil which cannot simply be consigned to the past and forgotten.”

The reality is that the lust for Jewish blood is very much a part of the present.

In December 2022, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) published its latest poll. It showed a dramatic spike in the number of West Bank Arabs in favor of killing Israeli Jews. The gap in Jewish blood lust between Gazans and West Bank Arabs was at the narrowest level since the Second Intifada / Two Percent War.

The results of the PCPSR poll were depressing, showing Palestinian support for terrorism against Israeli Jews and a rejection of a peaceful resolution to the Arab-Israeli Conflict. In particular, Arabs showed vigorous support for new terrorist groups emerging in Jenin which had committed a number of deadly attacks inside of Israel.

On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance, when the world pretends in understands #NeverAgain, the Israeli Defense Forces launched a raid to capture several terrorists in Jenin who had committed, and were planning to launch, terrorist attacks. The IDF was successful in eliminating several terrorists when the Arabs opened fire on the soldiers, and left Jenin without the loss of any IDF troops. Two West Bank civilians were killed according to reports from Arab media.

About twelve hours earlier, U.S. forces killed a top leader of the Islamic State and ten other fighters in a raid in Somalia, without the loss of any American troops. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the terrorist “was responsible for fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa and for funding the group’s operations worldwide, including in Afghanistan.”

And just a few hours before the U.S. raid, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “terrorism remains a global scourge — an affront to humanity on every level. It affects people of all ages, cultures, religions and nationalities.” Indeed, as the U.S. and Israeli raids against terrorism highlighted.

But there’s an important difference.

Gutteres pointed out that terrorism “is a global scourge” which impacts all religions and nationalities. Lloyd Austin mentioned that the Islamic State was building a base “in Africa… worldwide, including in Afghanistan.”

But Palestinian terrorist groups are only coming for the Jews, and the majority of Palestinian society supports them. These terrorists are not a fringe radical group but represent a mainstream sentiment. That desire elected a Holocaust denier to the presidency in the last Palestinian election and will likely vote a terrorist as president in the next.

Many actively deny this reality. We pretend that targeting Jews was “consigned to the past” and the occasional terrorist attack in Israel is part of a “global scourge” which “finds its home in vacuums” as Gutteres opined.

It’s not. It’s grounded in a perverse anti-Semitism.

As we remember the 6 million Jews murdered by Nazis and their collaborators, let us not forget the “unique evil” was that Jews were systematically targeted for annihilation. So it was in Europe in the 1940’s, and remains so among Palestinian Arabs in the holy land today.

The United Nations’ Sinister Attack On The Jewish State As Part Of Holocaust Event

NY Times Holocaust Revisionism For Poles, Not Palestinians

The Lies Conflating the Holocaust and The Promised Land

The Progressive New World Order Flips The Holocaust From Anti-Semitism To Woke Fodder

Seeing the Holocaust Through Nakba Eyes

The Holocaust Will Not Be Colorized. The Holocaust Will Be Live.

Extreme and Mainstream. Germany 1933; West Bank & Gaza Today

Excerpt of Hamas Charter to Share with Your Elected Officials

Hamas’s Willing Executioners

The United Nations’ Sinister Attack On The Jewish State As Part Of Holocaust Event

Posted on January 19, 2023 by First.One.Through

The United Nations will lead its Holocaust Commemoration with portraying Jews as refugees, rather than as slaughtered defenseless victims.

On January 27, 2023, the United Nations will mark the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust under the theme “Home and Belonging”. It will include several exhibitions, the major one called “After the End of the World: Displaced Persons and Displaced Persons Camps.”

In describing the event, the U.N. wrote “Victims of the Holocaust had their homes, their nationalities, and sense of belonging ripped from them by the Nazis and their racist collaborators.” While true, the world doesn’t mark the event because of a civil war in which Jews and others became homeless.

It is not why the U.N. created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948, which said “disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people.”

It is not why societies created Holocaust memorials to mark the targeted torture and slaughter of the most persecuted people in the world.

*Sculpture in Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Austria (photo: First One Through)*

It is not why Germany and other Nazi collaborators pay reparations to Holocaust survivors for their slave labor, imprisonment, cold-blooded murder of family members and theft of all their possessions.

It is not why many countries made Holocaust denial and the selling of Nazi paraphernalia a crime.

No, the world has seen many wars, countless refugees and significant homeless. The U.N. could run an event for these people under the banner “Home and Belonging” and bemoan those who had “their homes, their nationalities, and sense of belonging ripped from them,” with exhibitions about displaced persons camps.

But it is vulgar for a Holocaust commemoration.

This is the global body whitewashing the barbarous crimes inflicted on Jews to make it more universally appealing to anti-Semites, and it undermines the education it should be imparting, specifically to these people. It is a new insidious form of Holocaust denial, put on the world stage with Jews and elderly survivors acting as dupes.

Yes, homelessness and the existence of millions of refugees are sad issues that should be addressed. It is true, that anti-Semitism and racism are deep flaws in wide swathes of society.

But that’s not the essence of the Holocaust. It was an evil government systematically torturing and annihilating a segment of its own defenseless citizenry, often with the endorsement and participation of other citizens.

*Marcher over Brooklyn Bridge during March Against Hate on January 5, 2020, protesting the ongoing physical attacks against Jews. (photo: FirstOneThrough)*

If one wants to commemorate the Holocaust for the tastes of modern audiences, focus on stopping violence, especially against Jews. The United Nations’ approach of sanitizing the targeted genocide of Jews by making an appeal for refugees is seemingly a sinister attempt to mark the Jewish State as modern day Nazis who forced Palestinians into statelessness, and paint the U.N. into saviors of Jews in the 1940’s and of Arabs today.

It’s an outrageous lie at its foundation, and deeply anti-Semitic to promote during a Holocaust event.

The Lies Conflating the Holocaust and The Promised Land

The Left Wing’s Accelerating Assault on the Holocaust

The Ultimate Chutzpah: A New Form of Holocaust Denial

The Holocaust and the Nakba

Hamas’s Willing Executioners

‘The Maiming of the Jew’

The Holocaust Will Not Be Colorized. The Holocaust Will Be Live.

On Defenses: Provocative and Legal / Unprovocative and Illegal

Posted on January 4, 2023 by First.One.Through

Each society makes rules to govern its citizenry. It considers the tastes and preferences of its inhabitants and tries to balance enabling human rights and the maintaining of public order. Some countries opt to ban certain activities if they might lead to violence, while others believe that human expression cannot be stifled because of the reactions that might ensue.

The world has seen this play out in the recent past, with an interesting wave of defenses and condemnations.

Charlie Hebdo Drawings of Mohammed

France is a deeply secular society that prizes its freedoms, including freedom of the press. It was perfectly legal for a French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, to draw pictures of the Islamic prophet even though it was highly provocative and upsetting to devout Muslims. Indeed, several Islamic radicals shot up the magazine’s headquarters, killing many of its writers. As part of the jihadists’ derangement, they followed up on that violent vengeance with a visit to a local kosher store to slaughter Jews who had nothing to do with the cartoons.

The western world rallied to the defense of France, with global leaders marching arm-in-arm in defense of freedom of expression and against reactive violence. The provocative nature of the drawings was dismissed as irrelevant.

*World leaders march in support of France and freedom of expression in January 2015 (Photograph: AFP)*

Gay Pride Parade and Israeli Pride Marches in Jerusalem

The city of Jerusalem is both holy and contentious. It is the holiest city for Jews, the third holiest city for Muslims, and holy for Christians who don’t rank cities as commonly as Jews and Muslims.

It is also a politically sensitive city. Recommended to be an international city (along with Bethlehem) by the United Nations General Assembly in 1947, it became divided between Israel and Jordan in the 1948-9 Arab-Israeli War. After Jordan attacked Israel again in 1967, the reunited city became completely Israeli, even while much of the world still considers it to be international or under negotiations for a final settlement.

The holiness of the city makes the annual gay pride parade offensive to many religious Jews, Muslims and Christians. While legal, the provocative nature of holding the event in Jerusalem has sparked violence, such as occurred in July 2015 when a Jewish man just released from a mental hospital, stabbed six people, killing one. The public condemned the violence and defended the right to parade.

For their part, proud Jewish nationalists flew Israeli flags through Jerusalem, including in predominantly Arab sections of eastern Jerusalem, to mark the reunification of the city. When Palestinian groups claimed the parade was “provocative” and threatened violence, the United States asked Israel to reroute the march away from Arab areas, an action it did not take for the gay parade.

Both legal marches went on as planned, with left-wing groups labeling the nationalist march as provocative, and right-wing groups stating the same about the gay parade.

Israeli Jews on the Temple Mount

In sharp contrast to the legal actions above which are defended, the fundamental human right to pray at a holy site is deemed illegal and condemned. At least, only for Jews in Jerusalem.

The central point of prayer and holiest place on earth for Jews is the Jewish Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Jews around the world pray facing it, and many around the world make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times a year, as commanded in the Jewish Bible.

It has historic significance as the place where two Jewish Temples stood, and deep relevance today, especially to Orthodox Jews.

Jews have a basic human right to pray at their holiest location, as detailed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Even more, they have an accepted right to visit the Jewish Temple Mount according to rules laid out by the Islamic Waqf which has administrative rights on the compound.

But Arab extremists want to have none of it.

Wafa, the official Palestinian news site said “Israeli Jewish supremacist Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Tuesday stormed the compounds of al-Aqsa mosque in the occupied city of Jerusalem under heavy protection from the Israeli forces.“
The political-terrorist group Hamas’s news site said “Ben Gvir’s incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards on Tuesday morning constitutes a grave violation against the Palestinian people and their holy sites.” It condemned and mocked other Jews praying outside of the Temple Mount as “settlers [who] organized provocative dances and performed Talmudic rituals in the Old City and near Al-Aqsa Mosque.“
Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Sinan Al Majali said “The storming of the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque by one of the Israeli ministers and violating its sanctity is a provocative, condemned move.“

*National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir quietly visited the Temple Mount on the Jewish fast day of the 10th of Tevet, January 3, 2023. (Courtesy Minhelet Har Habayit)*

While not directly condemning Ben-Gvir’s visit or mocking Jews who pray in Jerusalem, the US Embassy in Jerusalem said that Ambassador Thomas Nides “has been very clear in conversations with the Israeli government on the issue of preserving the status quo in Jerusalem’s holy sites. Actions that prevent that are unacceptable.”

It is deeply disturbing that Israeli Jews visiting their sacred site is greeted by condemnation by not only radical Islamists, but by the western media and governments. Did those same people argue for the “status quo” of banning gay marriage? Segregation? Why do liberal values melt before jihadi zealots when it comes to the Jews?

Jews visiting and praying on the Temple Mount do so because the site is dear to them, not to antagonize Muslims. The people who condemn Jewish visitation and call it and act of “provocation” are not simply echoing radical Islamist propaganda, but denying Jewish history and Judaism itself, while simultaneously trampling on a basic human right.

Visitor Rights on the Temple Mount

The United Nations and Holy Sites in the Holy Land

Active and Reactive Provocations: Charlie Hebdo and the Temple Mount

I’m Offended, You’re Dead

Tolerance at the Temple Mount

The Jewish Israeli Rosa Parks

The US State Department’s Selective Preference of “Status Quos”

Today, Only Orthodox Jews Yearn For Prayers On The Temple Mount

Posted on December 20, 2022 by First.One.Through

Chanukah is a celebration of Jews purging the pagan practices of their holy Second Temple in Jerusalem, and expunging the Hellenists from the holy land. It is a worthwhile time to consider how Jews today think about the Jewish Temple Mount and the future of Jewish prayers on the site.

Reform Judaism

Reform Jews are the largest denomination of American Jews, accounting for roughly 33% of American Jews (right ahead of 29% of Jews of no religion) according to a 2021 Pew poll. Their authoritative rabbinic body, the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) issued a resolution in 2015 about the Reform movement’s view of the Temple Mount. While it said that Jews considered it “holy”, it noted that it only was so because of historic significance. It added some important points:

There is “not to any hope for rebuilding the Temple, reestablishing sacrificial rites, or restoring any future Jewish worship where the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock now stand”
“Supports the status quo on the Temple Mount which restricts prayer to Islamic, not Jewish, prayer.”
“Stands in opposition to those Jews who attempt to alter the status quo by praying on the Temple Mount, which is contrary both to traditional Jewish law and practice as well as peaceful co-existence.”
“Affirms the freedom of religion and the right of persons to pray where they choose, while at the same time, asserts that the interests of peace and safety are, in this unique and extraordinary circumstance, best served when some rights are suspended and legitimate religious passions restrained in deference to the rights and sensibilities of others.”
“Encourages efforts of the [Reform Movement’s] Israel Religious Action Center, in cooperation with the Religious Action Center, to maintain the status quo on the Temple Mount while combating terror and incitement to violence.”

The Reform Movement repeatedly makes clear that it opposes Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount now and forever. It believes that Temple Mount is simply a relic of the past, and any Jew who seeks to pray at Judaism’s holy site is essentially inciting violence.

The Reform movement’s leaders echo this theme. Rabbi Rick Jacobs lied to his base during Chanukah 2016 that the Maccabees of 2,200-years ago fought for religious tolerance when they did did the opposite. The Maccabees fought for a Jewish Temple, period. Further, it is perplexing (revolting) that the movement advocates for religious tolerance seemingly for all religions except for Jews at their holiest location.

Conservative Movement

The Conservative Movement is the fastest shrinking denomination of American Jewry. For every Jew who joins, three leave according to Pew, with the vast majority migrating to Reform or Jews with no denomination.

The movement has said remarkably little about the Temple Mount.

Way back in 2001, the Rabbinical Assembly issued a resolution which said almost nothing about its position about the sacred site, other than confirming its holiness to Jews, and respectfully asking Islamists to stop proclaiming otherwise. It has issued no other official comments about the holy compound.

Its silence can be found in other places as well.

In 2016, the Conservative movement published a new prayer book, a siddur, meant to be more egalitarian which included a wide variety of contemporary commentators. The siddur sits somewhere between Reform and Orthodox denominations’ liturgy, but much closer to Reform as it relates to the Temple Mount.

While Orthodox Jews recite a short prayer after the central Amidah service three times a day (four times on Sabbath and holidays), as well as earlier in the morning service, asking for the Temple to be rebuilt, the Conservative Movement omitted it:

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּ֒פָנֶֽיךָ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ שֶׁיִּבָּנֶה בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵֽינוּ וְתֵן חֶלְקֵֽנוּ בְּתוֹרָתֶֽךָ: וְשָׁם נַעֲבָדְךָ בְּיִרְאָה כִּימֵי עוֹלָם וּכְשָׁנִים קַדְמוֹנִיּוֹת: וְעָרְ֒בָה לַיהוָֹה מִנְחַת יְהוּדָה וִירוּשָׁלָֽםִ כִּימֵי עוֹלָם וּכְשָׁנִים קַדְמוֹנִיּוֹת:

May it be Your will, Adonoy, our God, and the God of our Fathers that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days, and grant us our share in Your Torah. And there we will serve You reverently as in the days of old, and in earlier years. And let Adonoy be pleased with the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem as in the days of old and in earlier years.

Perhaps the Conservative movement agrees with Reform Jews that there is no need for a Third Jewish Temple and that Jews should be banned from the site. Or maybe it is just staying out of the fray.

*View of the Jewish Temple Mount from the top of the rebuilt Hurva Synagogue in the Old City’s Jewish Quarter (Photo: First One Through)*

Orthodox Jews

While most non-Orthodox American Jews do not focus on the Temple Mount even as they might pray facing it, the small Orthodox community actively prays about rebuilding the Third Temple, as seen above. Many have gone to the site in recent years, during the few hours in which visitation for non-Muslims is currently permissible.

In December 2013, the Chief Rabbis of Israel reimposed a ban on Jews ascending the Temple Mount, as Orthodox Jews began to do so with greater frequency. The rationale had nothing to do with angering Islamists, as it did with potentially walking on the most holy of spots, which is not permitted for Jews other than a High Priest, according to Jewish law.

Despite the ban, the number of Jews visiting the Temple Mount has jumped in recent years as Orthodox Jews have rationalized that the location of the holy of holies is understood. In 2012, the total number of Jewish visitors was about 7,700. In October 2022 during the Jewish month of Tishrei, the figure was almost 8,000 according to Beyadeynu, an activist group encouraging Jewish visitation. The group estimates that the total this year doubled to about 50,000 from last year and it hopes to double again – to 100,000 Jews – in the coming year.

That figure remains a small fraction of the millions of Muslims who frequent the site at all hours.

In Israel, the Ultra-Orthodox Haredi community makes up 13% of the population and it is growing twice as fast as the rest of the country. There is roughly another 10% of Jews who are dati, or Modern Orthodox religious. Taken together, the 20%-plus Orthodox Israeli Jews is quite a bit larger than the 8% of Orthodox American Jews. Israel – and Jerusalem in particular – is much more Orthodox than world Jewry, as the devout Jews are drawn to the holy city much more than other Jews.

The increasingly secular nature of the majority of America’s Jews has fed a narrative that the Temple Mount is not central to Jewish prayer or aspirations. As Israel’s new government includes several Orthodox parties in the ruling coalition, the likely promotion of a greater Jewish presence at Judaism’s holiest spot will be cast as foreign and extreme around the world, when it is, and has always been, a basic component of Orthodox Judaism.