Before Israel declared itself an independent state in May 1948, “Palestinians” were a mix of Jews, Christians and Muslims. At the end of the 1948-9 Arab-Israeli War, the region was divided and renamed. There were Israeli Jews, Christians and Muslims, but no longer any “Palestinians,” as the non-Israeli territory fell under Egypt (Gaza) and The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan (the west bank of the Jordan River). The term “Palestinians” for the United Nations came to only mean Arab refugees from Israel, who were then living either in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza and Israel (the term Palestinian refugees inside of Israel was phased out by the global body in 1952).
Jordanians and subsequently, Former Jordanians
After Transjordan illegally seized control of the west bank of the Jordan River in 1949, it renamed itself as “Jordan”, now controlling both banks of the river. Jordan annexed that west bank land in 1950 and subsequently gave all the people who lived there – as long as they weren’t Jewish – Jordanian citizenship in 1954. These new Jordanians moved freely between both sides of the Jordan River and many opted to NOT take on the label of “refugee.” To wit, in June 1950, there were 506,200 refugees in Jordan, and that number shrank to 465,741 in June 1951, an 8% drop.
The new Jordanians were part of the force that attacked Israel in June 1967 and lost the eastern part of Jerusalem and all of the land Jordan illegally annexed in 1950. Jordan ultimately withdrew Jordanian citizenship from these West Bank Arabs in July 1988, when the Palestinians declared their independence, in a move not recognized by much of the world.
The former Jordanians are ruled by the Palestinian Authority, under the unpopular leadership of Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. He has championed for more countries to recognize the Palestinian State and has secured the Muslim countries as well as several in Latin America. As the United States and western Europe have refused to recognize the country until it negotiates borders and other matters with Israel, they are viewed as stateless.
Meanwhile, Israel lifted the Jordanian ban on Jews living in the region. Israeli Jews now live throughout the area known as Area C, while they are still banned in Areas A and B under Palestinian Authority-control.
Hamas and Fatah have not been able to reconcile their differences over the past many years. Gaza remains an Islamic terrorist territory, and Areas A and B of the West Bank (handed by Israel to the Palestinian Authority) remain under control of the PA, for now. Should elections ever be held, it is likely that Hamas will win control of the PA and thereby take control of the former Jordanians in those areas.
One hundred years ago, “Palestinians” included a mix of Jews, Muslims and Christians living together. Today it means nothing. As Hamas controlled-Gaza and Fatah-controlled Areas A and B are completely distinct and there is no country of Palestine, the people should similarly be referred to differently, as Gazans and former Jordanians.
Kyrie Irving is a basketball star with nearly 18 million followers on Instagram and another 4.6 million on Twitter. His following gives him a very large following and influence about… what?
He’s just a basketball player. A gifted one for sure, but why should we care about anything else he says or does?
He’s just a basketball player.
So when Irving says the world is flat, why does society ask him to apologize? He’s an idiot. When he promotes antisemitic films, why can’t we put his opinions in the same basket as the rest of his inanity?
Consider Bella Hadid, a supermodel with 56.2 million Instagram followers. That’s more than the population of 210 of 235 countries and territories tracked by Worldometers. Should we care about her opinion about politics?
She’s just a model.
So when Hadid says stupid things like “Jesus was a Palestinian” or that Israel commits “ethnic cleansing” and “apartheid”, why can’t we just ignore her?
Because we’re addicted. We listen to idiots.
There are a number of reasons we take the time to listen to non-experts:
The failure of the mainstream media – both in numbers and trust – left a void
Social media’s global platform and engagement vortex
Society’s elevation of emotion and “my truths” over facts
The thrill of interacting with megastars
Mainstream Media Failure
The internet killed mainstream media. As eyeballs moved online with the benefits of immediacy and active search, the advertisement dollars followed. People could search for up-to-the-second news and information from around the world from millions of sources, so the static print reports withered.
While hundreds of newspapers closed, the remaining ones pivoted with the times. They opted for deeper analyses in stories to leverage their brands and talented staff, leaving behind the quick breaking news which could be captured from millions of other sites. That left the short attention span-public to become ever more fixated on Instagram and limited characters-Twitter accounts of pop culture stars.
On top of abdicating the short-and-sweet sector, the news lost its objectivity. To keep its readership engaged, the media opted to choose a side and not report plain and deeper truths. In doing so, the media companies forever tarnished their reputations as biased actors. Their influence narrowed to segments of society.
Social Media Engagement
Pop culture transcends the biases of politics. Sports stars, models, musicians and actors become famous for their particular talents, not for their political acumen or scientific knowledge. They amass huge followings and have the ability through social media to speak directly to millions about the mundane, and sometimes, the not so trivial.
Alas, many of these stars are idiot savants, brilliant in a narrow field.
But their fans don’t care. They’re not interested in reading in depth boring analyses on weighty topics from old, dying and discredited media. They are fine with the quick blasts from venerated heroes. It helps them sort through the bazillion posts and articles online.
Bella Hadid has four times the number of followers as the 5,000-employee The New York Times. In a democratic and capitalist society, Hadid has much greater power and influence than mainstream media.
The influencers know the demographics of their followers, how to keep the eyeballs engaged, and how the platforms’ algorithms work. They have seen what trends and use social media managers to help consider how to best connect or grow certain demographics which helps feed the cash stream from endorsements.
And they know that boring doesn’t sell. Controversy pulls the eyeballs, and this is very much a business of eyeballs, not brains. Pics and blasts win attention, not careful consideration.
Kyrie Irving taking questions about his post of an anti-Semitic movie on October 30, 2022
When Kyrie spoke about his post featuring an anti-Semitic film, he said “All I do is post things for my people in my community and those that it’s actually going to impact. Anybody else that has criticism, it obviously wasn’t meant for them…. I’m not going to stand down on anything that I believe in. I’m only going to get stronger because I’m not alone. I have a whole army around me.” He seemingly believes that the core of his audience is Black people and hadn’t considered – or really cared about – local Brooklyn Jews who also buy his jersey.
Either way, his Black followers love him taking on the “establishment”, to the extent that anyone could consider the most persecuted people as privileged.
“My Truth” Malarkey
As broadcasting became democratized away from large conglomerates to individuals, the major platforms tried to catch up. They gave platforms to a range of talking heads on shows like ‘The View’ who share perspectives which might be embraced by swaths of the population, whether they are certain minority groups or say, high school dropouts. These new Hollywood stars offer a chance to share their ‘lived experiences’ and echo heretofore silent voices as it relates to various topics.
These voices reach those targeted audiences over mainstream media, and the rest of America hears it as well, much like Kyrie’s tweet designed for his Black “community” was also picked up by others.
The broader range of opinions have been dressed as “my truths.” That a noun like “truth” should have adjectives appended says much about today’s environment. We don’t have “objective truth” but opinions shielded from outside reality which ends discussion regardless of the preposterous ideas floated.
And polite society has asked the listeners to stay mum and contemplate what they are hearing. The once repressed voices now have a soapbox and it is a time to listen, not to respond. To correct “my truths” would be “mansplaining” or “touting one’s privilege”. It would surpass rude to admonish others’ “lived realities.”
As various segments of society get more representation in entertainment, government and board rooms, we have witnessed the promotion of bartenders, local teachers and high school dropouts to positions of influence and power. While there may be nothing wrong with that in principle, one needs to consider whether society is simply promoting locals who are eloquent but have no expertise.
Which is precisely the progressive idea. Experience has been marked as ensconcing privilege. America is seeking more diversity in views and opinions everywhere. And we’re getting them, and being directed to quietly listen.
Interacting With Megastars
The power of social media platforms is that it gives the masses the impression that they have a meaningful connection with stars rather than just a direct connection. The famous send messages right onto their personal phones! And they get to respond, with likes, comments and re-tweets. They can even become their “friend.”
In the e-world, a star who may not stop to sign an autograph for you, and might even hate everything you are, is carried all day in your pocket. An ever-present voice to keep you company along with the pantheon of other celebrities and influencers who keep you away from friends, family and work.
Technology has given megaphones to the entire planet, and the loudest ones have gone to pop cultural icons. Unfortunately, many have nothing worthwhile to say but the masses drink it in anyway. So the stars publish more to keep their audiences sated, and start to believe their “truths” because their fans shower them with adulation.
The rock band Moody Blues knew that they had catchy tunes but didn’t think they had the authority to opine on important matters as they sang “if you want the wind of change to blow about you, and you’re the only other person to know, don’t tell me. I’m just a singer in a rock and roll band.” Regrettably, they are in the minority, as the power of influencing millions of people is too addictive for most stars to ignore.
Idiot Audiences
You cannot blame these rich and powerful influencers for using their platforms. The problem is the audience. The followers are, for the most part, just like the pop cultural icon, minus the fame, success and narrow talent.
Reread the Kyrie Irving quote above. He was speaking to “my people in my community”, meaning principally Black men. His tweet on a global platform wasn’t intended for the millions of other people, the “anybody else… it obviously wasn’t meant for them.” He wanted Black men to know the problem of Jews stealing their heritage as the true “chosen people.” He wasn’t deliberately calling Jews lying and stealing scoundrels to their faces; that was a byproduct of the tweet.
While Kyrie’s featured movie may quote the notorious forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Adolf Hitler, and promote many anti-Semitic lies, it clearly spoke to him. He wanted his “people” and his “community” to take in the message that White Jews stole the Hebrew Bible from Black people (much like White Jews are stealing the Holy Land from Black and Brown people).
And yes, many Black men from Louis Farrakhan to Marc Lamont Hill to Keith Ellison believe and say as much. But Farrakhan’s been banned from social media, and Hill and Ellison only have 360,000 and 350,000 followers, respectively.
Kyrie reaches millions more and he wanted to spread this new anti-Semitic gospel.
Stepping Over The Line
Kanye West/ Ye has a few more followers than Kyrie Irving (18.4 million to 17.8 million). Ye’s tweet that he is going “death con 3 on Jewish people” was a call to violence. He didn’t simply insult, but committed an offense that should be punished in criminal court.
It was in that bilestorm that Kyrie added his tweet, another Black bomb on the Jews.
But Kyrie’s was a stink bomb. Offensive and gross but not jail-able.
The movie promotes a gross falsehood that many people actually believe. It has company amongst lots of racist media which is embraced by millions around the world. Kyrie fanned the flames with his enormous podium, he didn’t create the fiction. He’s ingested the poison just as the people in his community have.
The powers of the NBA sought to tamp down on today’s rampant anti-Semitism by suspending Kyrie for a few games and then made him apologize in a number of ways. It was painful for him to do so, as he insisted “I’m not going to stand down on anything that I believe in.” It took several weeks for him to say “I don’t have hate in my heart for the Jewish people or anyone that identifies as a Jew. The difficult aspect is just processing all this, understanding the power of my voice, the influence I have. I am no one’s idol, but I am a human being that wants to make (an) impact and change.”
The statement was a careful balancing act: not denouncing the movie or its message that he seemingly believes and wants millions of other Black people to watch, while also stating that he’s not an anti-Semite. He clarified that he didn’t hate Jews, hopefully ending his suspension and the saga.
There Is No End
It would be nice to say that this story of fanning hate is over and society can move on but that is not possible. Not because Kyrie / Ye / Hadid apologized / clarified / took their “punishment” or got off free.
It’s because societal dynamics dictate that it will definitely repeat.
The masses now have global unfiltered megaphones to speak to the masses at any time of day, and they all prefer short shots of emotion and “my truths” over considered meaningful analyses of objective truths.
Regrettably, it’s much easier to destroy than to build; to blurt an absurdity than investigate truth; to get all information from friends and members of your clan rather than scour dozens of source documents; to declare one’s opinions as truths rather than challenge old assumptions; to demand that others are to blame and should change rather than improve oneself; and to join the masses rather than stand apart.
The fictional idiot savant Forest Gump was fond of saying “stupid is as stupid does,” and he has become our champion. We do not consider his words as a warning but have embraced them as our national motto.
America has replaced “In God We Trust” with “In Influencers We Trust.”
Make no mistake, the idiots are winning and are likely to continue to do so.
What’s Bigger News, The Killing of 80 Civilians Or 5 Terrorists? Wrong Question.
The media is obsessed with Israel. Don’t believe me? Look at The New York Times newspaper published on October 26, 2022.
Leading off the International section on page A4, was an article written by three reporters – Isabel Kershner, Gabby Sobelman and Hiba Yazbek. It was one of only two articles on the page, and featured a medium-sized picture of Palestinians at the funeral of “militants” killed by Israel.
The article spoke about Israel’s military raid on the most active Palestinian terrorists who have been shooting Israelis and planting bombs. The army successfully eliminated five of the group’s members, including its leader.
In another part of the world, 80 civilians in Myanmar were killed when several military jets deliberately bombed an outdoor music concert. That story was on the last page of the International section, page A10. It was one of three stories on the page and was written by a single journalist. It contained no pictures and competed for readers attention against two large color photos on the page, including one with cute penguins.
The population of Myanmar is 54.8 million, 5.8 times the size of Israel’s 9.4 million people. The 80 Myanmar civilians killed is 16 times as large as five Arab terrorists. Despite this, three journalists were deployed on the “smaller” story which dwarves the minimum number required to write about the large massacre at an outdoor concert.
Why does a larger story by every measure get less emphasis and coverage?
It’s not just the media. The United Nations has special agencies just to deal with Israel. Its Human Rights Council has a standing item every session for one country- Israel – to “produce a database” of Jewish businesses. It has censured Israel more than the rest of the world combined.
Reporting. Investigating. Censuring.
Watching the Jews.
Society may have acknowledged that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is an antisemitic forgery, but has none-the-less internalized its lie that Jews are conspiring to control the world. The smear emanates constantly from the mouths of antisemites like Marc Lamont Hill’s “from Ferguson to Palestine” and Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s “from Gaza to Detroit“.
As such, the media deploys teams of journalists and spills much ink on the Jewish State just as the UN overspends time and money, as each believes that Israel will ultimately impact everyone much more than billions of people around the world. Martin Niemoller’s famous saying may have warned about “Then they came for the Jews…” portraying them as persecuted victims, but in fact, the antisemitic conspiracy theorists focus on Jews as the globalists, perpetrating vile crimes wherever they are found.
Israel is not simply held to a double standard; it is constantly under a microscope by antisemitic voyeurs who are waiting to “Catch the Jew” to validate their noxious Jew hatred.
… for visiting countries on vacation that fund anti-Israel NGOs and condemn Israel at the United Nations;
… for not listening to kids’ recommendation to invest alongside Pelosi, and for listening to them about investing in crypto;
… for calling my uncle a crazy racist and my niece a lazy woke-tard;
… for still not having a proper name for my in-laws, after many years of being married;
… for not calling my parents enough, even when they remind me of that fact constantly;
… for pretending I’m preoccupied when my spouse asks for something I’m not interested in;
… for telling my spouse to change attire; for not listening to spouse’s recommendation on attire; for listening to spouse’s recommendation on dress; for being late to events because of attire;
for these sins and thoughts related to family, please pardon us
… for the arrogance of believing that people read my postings including annoying Wordle scores;
… for believing Shabbos calories don’t count;
… for thinking I’m younger than my age, and not living each day fully;
… for internalizing that living my best life means selfish overindulgence;
… for trying to do too much; for trying to do too little;
… for not spending more time with family, friends, community and You;
Another vicious hate crime was committed by a violent extremist, this time by a White man in Buffalo, NY against Black people. After killing ten people in a grocery store, his online ‘manifesto’ was found which featured racist and anti-Semitic smears as well as a warning about the United States being transformed into a country dominated by non-Whites.
This notion of “Replacement Theory” can be found in a number of communities and is treated very differently by the media.
White Supremacists’ Replacement Theory
Anti-immigrant fervor picked up in Europe in 2015, as Muslims fleeing civil wars in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) began to flood the continent, and committed a number of terrorist attacks including in Paris, France. Accused of not participating in resettling the MENA refugees, President Obama accepted tens of thousands of additional refugees into the United States that year. In June 2015, Donald Trump seized on public fear of potential Islamic terrorism and announced his candidacy for president with anti-immigrant comments. Just two days later, a White man burst into a Black church and killed nine people. The murderer’s stated motivation was a racist and anti-Semitic perception of the fall of America, after seeing BlackLivesMatter protests:
“I hate the sight of the American flag. Modern American patriotism is an absolute joke. People pretending like they have something to be proud while White people are being murdered daily in the streets…. How about we protect the White race and stop fighting for the jews as well.”
Trump took office in January 2017 and issued an Executive Order to limit the influx of refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries where border controls were considered lax and pushed for building a wall on the southern border to stem the flow of immigrants from Central America. A few months later, White supremacists marched in Charlottesville, VA in August 2017 with shouts that “Jews will not replace us!” decrying liberal Jewish groups like HIAS that facilitate non-White immigrants coming to the US. In October 2018, a White supremacist took up that cause and shot 11 Jews to death in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA. His ‘manifesto’ said that HIAS “likes to bring invaders in that kill our people.”
The media has sharply criticizes the rhetoric of the White supremacists’ “Replacement Theory.” PBS describes the theory as “a plot to undermine the influence of white people. Believers say the goal is being achieved both through the immigration of nonwhite people into societies that have long been dominated by white people, as well as through simple demographics, with white people having lower birth rates than other populations. The conspiracy theory’s more racist adherents believe Jews are behind the so-called replacement plan.“
What is interesting in the media’s coverage of White supremacists’ Replacement Theory, is that it blends fiction and fact together to make everything appear as racist fiction. In truth, White people DO have fewer children than non-Whites (but birth rates for non-Whites are declining much faster than for White people). Projections by impartial groups like Pew Research estimate that the United States WILL decline to 47% Whites by 2050, from 67% now. The fictional component of the replacement theory is that these developments are part of a concerted plot hatched by Jews, as opposed to natural trends with a variety of causes.
Radical Islamists’ Replacement Theory
The fear of changing demographics is not limited to White Supremacists. It is prevalent among radical Islamists, especially Palestinian Arabs. Similar to their racist brothers-in-arms, they also kill Jews because of their perceived plight.
Arabs began to fear Jews moving to Palestine in 1920, after four global powers – Britain, France, Italy and Japan – convened the San Remo Conference to divide the defeated Muslim Ottoman Empire. The various mandates included the Mandate for Palestine (1922) which came under the British control, that included a call to facilitate the immigration of Jews to their ancestral homeland. Arabs rioted, slaughtered Jews and protested to the British to block the arrival of Jews, even though Jews were the only people moving to Palestine during the last 100 years of Ottoman rule.
Islamic radicals massacred Jews in the holy land in 1921, 1929 and during the multi-year pogroms from 1936 to 1939, in an attempt to maintain a Muslim-majority population in Palestine. During the European Holocaust, Palestinian Arabs effectively lobbied the British to limit Jewish refugees into the land, facilitating the deaths of tens of thousands of Jews. When Holocaust survivors came to Palestine after the war, Arab armies descended upon them to wipe them out for good. In the areas where the Islamists seized land – Gaza and the ‘West Bank’ – they ethnically-cleansed all Jews from the area.
Destroyed synagogue in Berlin, November 10, 1938Arab meeting in London to halt Jewish immigrationProtesting the Arab-sponsored British White Paper after Kristallnacht
Palestinian Arabs still commemorate the ‘Nakba’ in 1948 when they failed to destroy the Jewish State at its founding and were only able to wipe out Jews from a portion of the land. To this day, Arab leaders ask the British to renounce the Balfour Declaration.
But the media does not remark on the Islamists’ Replacement Theory as being inherently anti-Semitic. When Muslim extremists axe Jewish civilians to death the media adopts the killers’ narrative that they are “resorting to violence” because Muslims are “frustrated.” The Hamas Charter – the worst of all anti-Semitic ‘manifestos’ – and Palestinian leadership incitement to violence are deliberately omitted from the media’s anti-Semitic narrative.
“United the Right” in Virginia August, 2017Anti-Israel rally in New Jersey December 2017
The demographic makeup of most of the world continues to evolve, especially as people migrate to places which offer freedom and opportunity. The United States has long been a destination for immigrants, with the makeup of the home countries pivoting from Europe to Asia and Latin America with the passage of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965. In the 1950’s the makeup of immigrants to the US was 75% European, 5% Asian and 9% from Latin America. By the 1980’s those percentages changed to 23%, 26% and 44%.
The changing demographics happened in Palestine as well, where Muslims accounted for 60% of the population and Jews were a minority at 31% in 1945. Today the land is bifurcated, with Israel being 74% Jewish and 21% Muslim, while areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority are 100% Arab, in their ongoing quest for a Jew-free country. Jews moved to the land before the Jewish state was reestablished because it is the center of Judaism, and since 1948, as a safe haven from anti-Semitism.
The fear of racist Whites and Muslims are not unfounded, as it relates to changing demographics. However, the toxicity of their emotions emerges in believing that their new neighbors are inherently problematic, and that the former majority are victims who require protection.
For White Supremacists, the victims are White people suffering from a non-White invasion; for radical Islamists, the victims are Arab Muslims who must deal with Jewish “European colonialists” (even though Jews from Europe account for less than one-third of Israelis).
White Supremacists kill Blacks and Jews in an attempt to protect their vision of a White America; Jihadists kill Jews in an attempt to “free Palestine from the River to the Sea” of Jewish invaders.
The media calls out the racism and anti-Semitism of White Supremacists; HOWEVER, the media and United Nations lambast Jewish victims and protect Palestinian racists, fearing that calling out the obvious evil would hinder the possibility of a two-state solution.
The Great Replacement Theory is portrayed incorrectly in the media. The basic premise that the majority is becoming a minority is true. What is false is that: such dynamic is inherently a problem; is a concerted ‘plot by Jews’; is only limited to White Supremacists; and that the toxic hatred is only fed in social media, as the mainstream press and United Nations promote anti-Semitism and the Islamic Great Replacement Theory all of the time.
Jews killed in synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA 2018Jews axed to death in synagogue in Jerusalem 2014
The United States has a peculiar tradition of dedicating certain months towards particular ethnic groups. The month of May has traditionally been Jewish Heritage Month, and President Biden made a declaration this year as such.
In his April 29, 2022 proclamation, Biden quoted President George Washington’s letter to the Jews of Newport, RI writing “Inspired by Jewish American communal leadership, our Nation’s first President pledged that our Government will ‘give to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.‘” Biden went on to state that his administration would root out anti-Semitism, “ensuring that hate has no safe harbor.“
But Biden has not internalized Washington’s worldview.
Washington’s letter of August 1790 stated clearly that Jews were not simply a tolerated minority but on equal footing with all other American citizens. He prayed that they and all Americans would know peace after years of war:
May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.
President George Washington’s letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, RI August 18, 1790
The comment about sitting in safety was lifted from the Hebrew Bible, Micah chapter 4, a seemingly appropriate quotation for a letter to a synagogue. The first five sentences of that chapter are a prophecy for ultimately reaching a time of peace:
[4:1] In the days to come, The Mount of the LORD’s House shall stand Firm above the mountains; And it shall tower above the hills. The peoples shall gaze on it with joy,
[2] And the many nations shall go and shall say: “Come, Let us go up to the Mount of the LORD, To the House of the God of Jacob; That He may instruct us in His ways, And that we may walk in His paths.” For instruction shall come forth from Zion, The word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
[3] Thus He will judge among the many peoples, And arbitrate for the multitude of nations, However distant; And they shall beat their swords into plowsharesAnd their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not take up Sword against nation; They shall never again know war.
[5] Though all the peoples walk Each in the names of its gods, We will walk In the name of the LORD our God Forever and ever.
Washington’s desire was that America was going to be modeled after that Messianic ideal of the Micah the Prophet – of a society that had progressed beyond war with the ability to live in peace, every person enjoying their own homes and possessions.
The Biden Administration – and a growing swath of the United States – has seemingly lost this vision in three frightening ways: permitting anti-Semitism, taking personal possessions and denying Jews the freedom to worship.
Permitting anti-Semitism: While Biden claims that his administration is aggressively fighting anti-Semitism, he has refused to combat the horrific spike of Jew hatred on America’s campuses. Rather than engage with the anti-Israel members of the Democratic Party, Biden delayed taking action on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which would have afforded Jews protections that are afforded to other minorities. He has postposed such action until December, after the mid-term elections, preferring his political survival to the well-being of young Jews. A bi-partisan group of forty members of Congress were appalled by Biden’s lack of concern for Jewish college students and wrote a letter urging immediate action. It was ignored.
Seizing private property: Biden is scared of the far left wing members of his party that are gaining more seats and control. The Democratic Socialists of America are demanding a “massive redistribution of income from corporations and the wealthy to wage earners and the poor and the public sector.” Their vision of America does not afford individuals to live under their own “grapevine or fig tree,” but under a communal one.
Denying the rights of Jews on their Temple Mount: Micah’s vision is quite clear – that Jews can ascend to their holy place in Jerusalem, while people of other religions can practice their faiths in freedom as well. It is a desire of Jews today as it was thousands of years ago when Micah wrote his vision, but Biden and many others do not believe in basic human dignity for Jews. Biden is calling on Israel to limit Jewish visitation to Judaism’s holiest site and firmly banning Jewish prayer.
George Washington would be appalled, which is seemingly fine with the radical left which is toppling statues of him.
Today’s America is unmoored from its foundational principles of religious liberty and freedom. Such revised platform will prove toxic for American Jewry.
American Jewry does not need the saccharine marketing of a “Jewish Heritage Month.” It requires leadership that prioritizes people’s safety, property and basic human rights over selfish political aspirations.
The willful ignorance and denial of Jewish history is systemic in virtually all countries. It very much includes the United States, and the Black community in particular.
Pew Research did a study of Holocaust knowledge in February 2019. The study showed that Black Christian Americans were woefully ignorant about the Holocaust, getting fewer than half as many responses correct as White Americans. No other group was remotely as uninformed.
It was therefore no surprise when television personality Whoopi Goldberg thought that the Holocaust of European Jewry was simply a matter of White-on-White violence, as so many Blacks know so little about the subject, and consider Jews as simply “White”.
The State of California made an attempt to improve its education for grades K-12 by instituting an ethnic studies curriculum that highlight some minority groups: Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans and Asian American. Jews, who experience the most hate crimes per capita in the Unites States every year, were described in the 2019 curriculum as “sometimes have experienced conditional whiteness and privilege.” A letter of protest from the California Jewish Caucus pushed the state to make some significant changes to the 2021 draft, but it is readily apparent as to how the liberal state prioritizes and thinks about Jews and anti-Semitism.
So as Israel commemorates Yom HaShoah, the Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust, perhaps a more controversial approach should be considered. Use the day to deny and belittle Black slavery. Pretend it never happened, or only impacted a few Black people. Maybe describe how just as many Asians were slaves at that time, or that life wasn’t really so bad for the African workers.
It should get the attention of people most ignorant about the genocide of European Jewry, much more than the far-left crafters of today’s K-12 curricula are willing and capable of doing.
Three teenagers contemplate the Holocaust after visiting Yad VaShem in Jerusalem, Israel (photo: First One Through)
The pictures and stories coming out of Ukraine are horrible. The suffering of the people of Ukraine and the hands of Russian forces is hard to fathom – or is it?
Neighboring countries go to war all of the time. Before the invention of the airplane, it was basically the only way to wage war. Iran-Iraq was the typical format, not U.S.-Afghanistan. When Russia and the United States engaged in the “Cold War,” they mostly used adjacent proxy states.
Today, vulnerable countries at the edge of war are watching the Russian invasion in horror for the suffering of Ukrainian civilians, as well as for important lessons to be gleaned about their own situations.
Ethno-nationalism surpasses borders. Vladimir Putin of Russia claimed that Ukraine is not a valid country, as its people are actually Russian by identity, language and culture. Palestinian Arabs believe the same, as outlined in the opening of the Palestinian National Charter, “Palestine is the homeland of the Arab Palestinian people; it is an indivisible part of the Arab homeland, and the Palestinian people are an integral pa
rt of the Arab nation.” Russia does not believe it is invading a distinct foreign entity but bringing its own people back into the fold, much as the Arab countries surrounding Israel thought (and think) nothing of invading the sovereign State of Israel. Everyone should only use the term ‘Israeli Arabs’ and not ‘Palestinian Citizens of Israel’, as the latter serves the aim of invasion.
The pretext of preventing ‘genocide’ convinces hordes of morons to back warfare. Putin claimed that Russian-speakers in Ukraine were being slaughtered in a “genocide” and was therefore coming to their aid. Arabs – and increasingly “human rights organizations”, the liberal media and the United Nations – are falsely alleging that Israel is committing a “genocide” of Palestinian Arabs and engaging in “ethnic cleansing,” despite the plain facts that the number of Arabs in Israel has grown at a faster pace than Israeli Jews and Arabs in surrounding countries. The Russian propaganda to rally its people against Ukraine is much the same as the insidious jihad of anti-Zionists who are preparing to wage economic, psychological and military warfare against the Jewish State. The vile libel must be fought aggressively.
Concession of a small amount of land is an invitation for more. When Russia invaded Crimea and took over part of Ukraine, the world barely uttered a protest, pleased that the bloodshed was minimal. The larger problem was that a dangerous lesson had been taught that even Ukraine did not believe in the sanctity of its borders and Russia could claim more on the same grounds. While Israel handed over lands in the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority during the late 1990’s and then Gaza in 2005, as opposed to losing them in battle, the Palestinian Authority believes much like Russia that it should have more – whether the entirety of the West Bank or all of Israel.
A country cannot overly rely on security agreements and guarantees. In 1994, Ukraine signed the Budapest Moratorium – also executed by Russia, Britain, and the U.S. – in which Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for assurances of its territorial integrity. Not only did Russia not abide by the agreement in its invasion of Crimea, the U.S. and Britain did not come to the aid of Ukraine. Today, Israel may appreciate the statements from the United States that its commitments to the Jewish State’s security is “enduring and ironclad“, but Israel must fully plan and operate under the assumption it must be able to defend itself by itself.
Don’t have a capital city on the border. The Russian forces quickly penetrated deep into Ukrainian land early in the war. As the capital city of Kyiv is far from the border with Russia, the country has managed to survive the initial onslaught and continues to defend itself. Israel, a very small country surrounded by Arab Muslim countries, cannot allow its capital city of Jerusalem to sit on a border as well. Not only should the city never be divided again as it was for eighteen years 1949 to 1967, but Israel must secure many miles around the city as well.
Beware the Alter of Large Players. Russia’s size and clout are enabling it to get away with murder. As an enormous military and economic force, many countries are refusing to hold Russia to account. Israel is similarly surrounded by the vast Muslim Arab world, with much of it refusing to recognize its existence and some openly demanding Israel’s destruction. In that backdrop, Israel’s primary sponsor, the United States, is working with the Islamic Republic of Iran to maintain a semblance of a nuclear weapons program, even as Iran has threatened to destroy Israel. The situation threatens Israel existentially on one side and economically and psychologically on the other.
Russia is significantly larger than UkraineIsrael sits as a small dot in the vast Muslim world
Democracies are vulnerable to war when abutting dictatorships. For many years, the western world convinced itself that wars were only for authoritarian regimes. Wars in Africa and the Middle East were considered alien matters between tribal warlords. Intellectuals convinced themselves that a free people with a functioning democracy would simply vote out corrupt or ineffectual leaders and would embrace peace as has existed in Europe since World War II. Lost in that arithmetic is when a democracy abuts a dictatorship, as is the case with Ukraine and Russia. As it is for Israel and all of its neighbors.
There are unfortunately many similarities between the Ukrainians suffering at the hands of its Russian neighbor since 1994 on the one hand, and Israel’s treatment by its Muslim and Arabs neighbors since the reestablishment of the Jewish State, on the other.
The Democratic Party has tried to become a “big tent” that welcomes all types of views into its ranks. As it has done so, it has given extremists positions of power and influence.
In February, New York State completed its redistricting. As part of the hustle-shuffle, the Democratic Party moved the pro-Israel community of Riverdale out of Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s district and into the progressive pro-Israel district of Rep. Ritchie Torres. In doing so, it helped boost support of Torres and keep Bowman from possibly losing his seat.
It also enabled Bowman to lean into the anti-Israel bile of his comrades in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Immediately after the Democrats expunged the vocal pro-Israel constituency from his district, Bowman withdrew his support of the Abraham Accords, which established diplomatic and trade relations between Israel and the countries of Sudan, Bahrain, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates. One can expect Bowman to shortly echo his fellow anarchists with calls to defund the police and pushing schools to advocate Critical Race Theory.
Another member of the DSA extremist group who is elevated by the Democratic Party is Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). The notorious anti-Semite will be given the microphone to deliver a speech after President Biden – a fellow Democrat – delivers his state of the union address. The only other time that a member of a party gave a reply to the SOTU by a fellow party member was last year when Bowman did it.
Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) incites anti-Semitism in the same manner as Nazis, and is given committee assignments by the Democratic Party
The Democratic Party has similarly shielded Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), despite her repeatedly using anti-Semitic tropes. Rather than rebuke her, they condemned those who pointed out the obvious as ‘Islamophobes,’ and continued to let her sit on important committees.
The Democrats can continue to shout about former President Trump all day, but they should get crushed in the next elections if they continue to give platforms to radical politicians who proudly shout anti-Semitic venom and extremist policies.
“The Great Replacement” theory posits that White people are being replaced by non-White people in western countries including in Europe and the United States. The Anti-Defamation League asserts that its roots come from Europe roughly 100 years ago, and returned in 2011 in an article by French writer Renaud Camus. With the influx of Arabs from Africa and the Middle East into Europe and the United States in 2014 and 2015 due to the “Arab Spring,” various civil wars and rise of ISIS, the proposition gathered a considerable number of followers.
Among the far-right, Jews are considered far left progressives who are helping to bring in these foreigners. In the August 2017 “Unite the Right” rally, marchers chanted “Jews will not replace us,” not as a chant that the insignificant number of Jews could possibly outnumber White Christians, but as historian Deborah Lipstadt says, advanced the premise of the notorious forgery “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” that Jews are behind a global conspiracy for world domination and use various puppets to achieve their aims.
Among the far-left, Jews are portrayed as far too represented in positions of power. They point to the number of Jews in Congress, on the Supreme Court, as CEOs and owners of companies and sports teams. The alt-left progressives assert that Jews are White and are among the “ownership class” (Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers) who operate “behind the curtain… [to] make money off of racism.” (Rep. Rashida Tlaib).
In this vortex of anti-Semitism, the far right and left are actively replacing Jews.
Consider the Supreme Court.
The liberal media is very excited that President Biden nominated a liberal Black woman to the court and informed its readership that White males make up one-third of the country but accounted for 94% of Supreme Court judges. This is a diversionary tactic of going back 200-plus years in time to make a point. A more relevant statistic would have been comparing the racial composition of judges since 1965, which is certainly much lower than 94% White males. Even more, it will likely show that the number of Jews far exceeds the their current size of 2% of the U.S. population. A disproportionate number of Jews are in law school so it is not surprising that a disproportionate percentage become judges and senators (most are former lawyers).
But current actions of both Republicans and Democrats are scrubbing Jews from the top bench.
Stephen Breyer (Jewish) is being replaced in 2022 by a Black woman, possibly Ketanji Brown Jackson, because Biden said “for too long, our government and our courts haven’t looked like America.“
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Jewish) was replaced in 2020 by Amy Coney Barrett, a devout Catholic.
Merrick Garland (Jewish) was blocked from being considered for the court in 2016 as Republicans delayed the confirmation process until after the election to secure a conservative seat which went to Neil Gorsuch, a Protestant.
Elana Kagan is now the only Jew on the current Supreme Court, appointed in 2010.
While the Supreme Court could have had four Jews sitting at one time in 2016 with Breyer, Ginsburg, Garland and Kagan, there will now be only a single Jew on the highest court.
The Supreme Court in 2016 with three Jewish justices was ready to have a fourth (Merrick Garland). Due to Republican and Democratic actions, in 2022, there will only be a single Jew (Elana Kagan).
This dynamic is playing out in elected offices as well.
In 2022, there are ten Jewish senators, or ten percent of the senate, seemingly a large percentage. But the numbers are shrinking and likely going to continue to shrink.
Carl Levin (D-MI) died last year and replaced by a non-Jew, Gary Peters
Barbara Boxer (D-CA) seat is now held by Alex Padilla
Arlen Spector (R-PA) died in 2011 and his seat is held by Pat Toomey
Joe Lieberman (I-CT) left office in 2013 and was replaced by Chris Murphy
Al Franken (D-MN) left office in 2017 and was replaced by Tina Smith
Since 2011, there have been four Jews elected to the Senate: Richard Blumenthal (D-CT); Brian Schatz (D-HI); Jacky Rosen (D-NV); and Jon Ossoff (D-GA). Meanwhile, seven Jews have left: Spector; Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ); Herb Kohl (D-WI); Lieberman; Boxer; Russ Feingold (D-WI); and Franken. That’s a net loss of 23 percent.
The same has happened in Congress. Once reliable “Jewish seats” have gone to Black progressives. Eliot Engel (D-NY) was replaced by Jamaal Bowman (D). Nita Lowey (D-NY) was replaced with Mondaire Jones (D).
The Jews that remain are often mum on Jewish issues in the hopes of keeping their jobs.
Other Jewish politicians live in fear of their lives. Craig Greenberg, a Jewish Democratic candidate for mayor of Louisville, KY was shot at by a Black Lives Matter radical in February 2022. The would-be assassin was released less than 48 hours later after the radical group posted bail for the shooter.
Elected officials are pushing this diversity into the business world as well, often to the detriment of Jews.
In September 2020, California governor Gavin Newsom passed a law that requires publicly held companies headquartered in the state to include board members from underrepresented communities. That law defines “underrepresented” as “an individual who self‑identifies as Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Alaska Native, or who self‑identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.” Jews, the most persecuted minority in the world, did not qualify, as liberals consider Jews as over-represented.
Jews are in the cross-hairs of the extreme right and left, with both groups pushing to eliminate Jews from positions of influence.
The left-wing is promoting its notion of the “myth of meritocracy.” Black people are particularly offended at Jewish advances in various fields despite systemic anti-Semitism, as it dilutes their argument. They are left with the incorrect conclusion – like Whoopi Goldberg – that Jews are inherently White and don’t suffer from real hatred the way that Blacks suffer.
Right wing extremists believe that Jews are all far left-wing nuts undermining family values and trying to import people of color to replace a White and Christian America.
The extreme right and left are coalescing into a modern Henry Ford kind of anti-Semite, where political party bends but populist anti-Semitism thrives. Both groups are targeting Jews directly and indirectly, to remove them from public fora.
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