I Did Not Vote For Trump in 2016 or 2020. I am Voting For Him Now.

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

Like many Jewish Americans, I am a registered Democrat. Unlike many, I have no party loyalty and vote for the person I think is best suited for the job.

My friends were shocked when I voted for the libertarian candidate for president in 2016. They rattled off the many offenses of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and that I was wasting my vote. I did not disagree. But I could not vote for Trump or Clinton. Not only had Clinton proven herself to be awful but Trump was a vulgarian wildcard. I believed Trump was such a “deal guy” that he had no sense of the compromises that are needed to run a country of 330 million. He would be bad for America, Israel and the whole world.

I ended up being quite wrong about Trump on Israel. Surrounded by a strong team of advisers, he understood what was required for an ENDURING PEACE in the Middle East, not just the paper to get to a peace agreement. He delivered an amazing array of achievements for America and the Middle East over his term, including the fewest deaths of Arabs and Jews over any four year stretch in modern history.

Yet I remained worried. America was deeply divided and I could not imagine Trump being the solution to bring the country together. Four years on I looked for an alternative.

I cast my lot initially with Mike Bloomberg as a centrist, who had pushed aggressively for Hillary over Trump in 2016 under the premise that she was basically like a prostitute who is deeply unloved but gets the job done. Bloomberg was my version of #NeverTrump meets #NeverBernie Sanders. But he was eliminated early on.

I settled on Biden as the “centrist” to help address the “Mason-Dixon Plaid” that pitted neighbor against neighbor. I wanted to stop the brewing civil war, and too many people hated Trump for him to be the solution. I similarly voted for centrists in Congress, rejecting mainstream media’s endorsement of far left-wing radicals like Jamaal Bowman. I picked a winner at the top of the ticket but saw extremist radicals taking over Congress.

Those radical members of Congress had no need to compromise the way a president must. They incited their base, and brought antisemitism to deplorable levels after the October 7, 2023 massacre of 1,200 people in Israel. Fading Biden had no idea or desire to stem the vicious tide.

Jewish members of Congress like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) turned on Israel and refused to combat the wave of antisemitism. Young Democrats and liberal universities revealed themselves to be deeply hostile to Israel and Jews.

The divide in America now felt more personal. It was no longer about Republicans versus Democrats, but more immediately, radical antisemitic extremists which had metastasized inside the Democratic party and liberal institutions against American Jewry. The general tension in the country is no longer my priority, but the specific targeting of minority-minority Jews which made even leading Jewish politicians hide in fear.

Pundits like Bret Stephens may argue that Trump continues to be a danger, and I was a NeverTrumper just like him. Many friends who are devout liberal Jews continue to believe that the antisemitism is really just a minor issue which will subside when the Iranian proxy war against Israel ends.

I disagree. Things have become so dire for American Jewry that Jews like me are prioritizing Jews over everything else. The alt-left will easily take over a Kamala Harris administration.

Sen. Bernie Sanders explaining that Kamala Harris will side with the alt-left when she is not bound by Biden’s preferences as it relates to Israel

Israel is laying the groundwork for an enduring peace in the Middle East by ridding the region of jihadi extremists who intend on annihilating local Jewry. It is tragic and ugly but essential. Americans – DEMOCRATS – need to similarly take actions which may seem displeasing, including voting for Trump, to end the toxic antisemitism drowning Jews today.

Be A Proud DINO And Expunge Extremists (February 2024)

The DSA Is Systematically Coming For Zionist Jews (August 2023)

Anti-Israel and Jew-Ambivalent in Congress (December 2022)

Politicians In Their Own Words: Why We Don’t Support Defending Jews (January 2022)

Eyes Wide Shut (November 2016)

The “Wings Of Islam” Sail On The Alt-Left “Jewish Currents”

Posted on October 27, 2024 by First.One.Through

Alt-left anti-Zionist Jews were once again given a major platform on the anti-Israel Amanpour & Co. on PBS. This week, it was Arielle Angel, Editor-in-Chief of Jewish Currents, a magazine devoted to progressive causes and more increasingly, the destruction of the only Jewish State.

Michelle Martin acted as a fair interviewer and gave Angel numerous attempts to criticize Hamas and rampant antisemitism (6:05). Angel would not take the bait and instead responded (6:55) that “30% of the Jewish community holds views that are consistent with non- or anti-Zionism, and that number rises to 40% for those under 44 [years old].” Angel did not provide any source for her figures. When she went for a source, she quoted deeply antisemitic and anti-Zionist Brown University which claimed that there are close to 100,000 Gazans killed by Israel, a figure which is more than two times quoted by Hamas.

At 8:30, Martin asks Angel to define Zionism. Angel didn’t answer and instead simply insisted that Zionism and Judaism are completely distinct, “there was a Judaism before Zionism and there will be one after. (9:15)”

Pressed by Martin again at 10:00 to define anti-Zionism, the core of Angel’s narrative, Angel was flummoxed. She offered that Zionism is “hazy” as “a marker of belonging without a firm definition.” She then answered that anti-Zionism for her now means understanding the Palestinian point of view, meaning “apartheid,” “being killed or massacred at will,” and “ethnic cleansing and mass murder.”

Angel went on to say that she is against an “ethnocentrist state” and that millions of Stateless Arabs from Palestine (“SAPs” or “Palestinian Refugees”) should be allowed to move into Israel regardless of what the government of Israel wants. She argued that the world must stop Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza which feels like the silent world which allowed the Holocaust of Jews to transpire in the 1940s.

Martin asked Angel to explain how Israel could allow itself to become a multi-ethnic society when it is completely surrounded by ethno-states, which have also repeatedly gone to war against Israel. Angel replied that Israel isn’t safe now anyway and incorrectly said that Hamas has accepted “1967 borders,” but it’s the Israeli government that wants all of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

It would appear that extremist left-wing Jews have deeply internalized the 1988 foundational charter of Hamas which stated in Article 31, “Peace and quiet would not be possible except under the wing of Islam… It is the duty of the followers of other religions to stop disputing the sovereignty of Islam in this region… The Zionist Nazi activities against our people will not last for long.”

Anti-Zionist left-wing Jews have become the spokespeople for Hamas, advancing narratives and policies to facilitate the destruction of the Jewish State. They wish for Jews to become dhimmis once again, living under the wing of jihadists. It’s a small price for Israeli Jews to pay for the mental health of progressive diaspora Jews.

ACTION ITEM

Write Jewish Currents and educate them about what Zionism actually is and that Gazans actually want dead Jews.

It’s Jewish: Kosher, Bris, Menorah, Mikvah, Land of Israel (April 2024)

The Zone Of Jew Hatred Interest (March 2024)

Missing Items In IHRA Antisemitism Definition Related To Israel (May 2023)

Anti-Semites Don’t Ride In Cattle Cars (September 2022)

A Core Tenet of Zionism Is Combatting Anti-Semitism (January 2022)

The Epicenters, Diameter and Echoes of 9/11 (September 2021)

Peter Beinart is an Apologist for Anti-Semites (December 2020)

Jizyah for Jews in Jerusalem (September 2019)

Christiane Amanpour is More Anti-Semitic Than Ilhan Omar (January 2019)

The Hebron Narratives: Is it the Presence of Jews or the Israeli Military (January 2018)

The Parameters of Palestinian Dignity (August 2016)

The Fault in Our Tent: The Limit of Acceptable Speech (July 2015)

Vote ‘No’ On New York’s Proposition 1

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

New York State is putting forward a proposal on the November ballot to change the state’s constitution. Specifically, it adds categories of “protected classes” and enables judges to override them if they feel that a situation is warranted.

The text reads:

Concurrent Resolution of the Senate and Assembly proposing an amendment to section 11 of article 1 of the constitution, in relation to equal protection

Section 1. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That section 11 of article 1 of the constitution be amended to read as follows:

§ 11. a. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed [or], religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy, be subjected to any discrimination in [his or her] their civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state, pursuant to law.

b. Nothing in this section shall invalidate or prevent the adoption of any law, regulation, program, or practice that is designed to prevent or dismantle discrimination on the basis of a characteristic listed in this section, nor shall any characteristic listed in this section be interpreted to interfere with, limit, or deny the civil rights of any person based upon any other characteristic identified in this section.

§ 2. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the foregoing amendment be submitted to the people for approval at the general election to be held in the year 2024 in accordance with the provisions of the election law.

Explanation – Matter in underscored is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted.

New York State is a Democratic super-majority trifecta: The Democratic Party controls the office of governor and both chambers of the state legislature, of Assembly (100 to 48) and Senate (42-21). Democrats are using their muscle to push forward a controversial proposal which sounds benign but gives judges wide latitude to advance preferred classes of people over others.

Advocates for the constitutional amendment like Governor Hochul argue that its about abortion rights. Yet many have written articles suggesting that such argument is absurd as New York already amended the constitution to permit an abortion until the moment of birth for any reason. Asian New Yorkers see the proposition as “reverse racism” which will kick qualified Asian students out of better schools in favor of preferred minorities. Others argue that this is a “pernicious” attempt to “throw out the New York human rights act,” in favor of pushing DEI everywhere (diversity, equity and inclusion).

Religious institutions are alarmed by the proposition and urging voters to vote ‘no.’

The president of Houghton University, a 141-year-old Christian university, said “the proposed amendments to the state constitution would adversely affect our institution, our students and our employees. The most significant of those adverse effects are related to parental rights, women’s athletics and religious liberty…. Proposal 1 and other similar inclusion measures overstep constitutional religious liberty protections when they prevent people of faith from freely exercising their religion. It is not inclusive to force people of faith to believe or behave in a manner that is inconsistent with their religious beliefs, to force them to raise their children in a manner that contradicts their religious beliefs, or for the state to attempt to raise their children in a manner that contradicts their religious beliefs while hiding state actions from their parents.”

Jewish institutions are similarly against the proposition, with Agudath Israel releasing a statement on October 15 urging everyone to reject the amendment to the constitution.

The Empire Center produced a detailed and balanced analysis of equal rights laws and the ramification of Prop 1. It concluded that the language in this proposition is so vague that it will pit one class of protected persons against another, spur constant litigation and give judges tremendous leeway to create policy of their personal preferences. It suggested that New Yorkers vote ‘no’ and “hold out for an equal rights amendment that solves more problems than it creates.”

The Deep Blue super-majority trifecta of New York State government is attempting to upend protections that have existed since 1938 to enforce DEI mandates in every aspect of New Yorker’s day-to-day lives. Vote ‘no’ to Proposition 1 and send a clear message that New Yorkers reject the government pitting citizens against each other.

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

Vote To Sanctify The Separation Of Powers (November 2022)

Vote Purple (October 2020)

Please Don’t Vote for a Democratic Socialist (November 2018)

For The Sins of 5784…

Posted on October 11, 2024 by First.One.Through

For the sin of donating to my antisemitic alma mater;

For the sin of laughing hysterically at the Hezbollah pagers explosions;

For the sin of not doing enough to get rid of antisemitic members of Congress;

For the sin of not doing all I could to get rid of an antisemitic “charity” in my backyard;

For the sin of not lobbying my government to label Hamas a terrorist group;

For the sin of not lobbying my government to defund the United Nations;

For the sin of failing to educate children that the oppressor/oppressed narrative does not excuse people to act immorally;

For the sin of allowing myself to get pulled by the empathy swamp regarding Gaza to condemn Israel’s defensive war;

For the sin of not clearly calling out ‘woke’ profound antisemitism;

For the sin of not signing petitions to defund and abolish UNRWA;

For the sin of allowing ‘Intifada’ to be normalized;

For the sin of not calling out the antisemitic genocidal intent of Gazans;

For the sin of rewriting history;

For the sin of not demanding the firing of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres;

For the sin of watching Israel slowly get demonized and isolated without doing anything;

For the sin of not reporting antisemitic incidents;

For the sin of not believing people’s comments about Jews;

For the sin of pretending that Palestinian leadership does not want the destruction of Israel;

For the sin of excusing chants against Jews in ways I would never excuse similar chants against other groups;

For the sin of believing the whataboutery and red herrings of allies and preferred media;

For the sin of believing in the decency of my neighbors too much; for believing in them too little;

For the sin of seeking too few allies; for seeking too many allies;

For the sin of pardoning my government for not fighting enough for the Jewish people;

For the sin of talking about Israel at work too little; for talking about it too much;

For these things related to the Jewish world, please pardon us

For the sin of waiting for someone else to say Psalm 119 in Tehillim chat groups;

For the sin of doubling up my recitation of the same Tehillim chapter on different WhatsApp groups;

For the sin of taking two handfuls of mints at restaurants;

For the sin of not mentoring enough young people;

For the sin of not putting ‘AsAJew’ people who put Jews directly in harms way in herem;

For the sin of not defending AIPAC from ridiculous slander;

For the sin of claiming anti-Zionism is not antisemitism;

For the sin of dressing up extremist and divisive positions as merely “progressive”;

For the sin of believing that the Biden-Harris administration has been effective at controlling the nation’s borders;

For the sin of believing in Kamala Harris the moment she became the presidential nominee when I had believed her utterly incompetent for three and one-half years;

For the sin of not believing that Donald Trump is a megalomaniac;

For the sin of wasting time debating Trump-Harris for hours, when I live in a deeply blue or red state;

For the sin of not speaking to as many Holocaust survivors as possible;

For the sin of thinking about Israel too much; for thinking about it too little;

For the sin of not volunteering for community security service;

For the sin of not fighting to neuter harmful “Jewish” charities;

For the sin of obsessing about peace in a time of war;

For the sin of not thinking about the hostages in Gaza every day;

For these sins related to community, please pardon us

For the sin of giving away the Wordle answer to someone who hasn’t completed it;

For the sin of watching Instagram videos of dogs while in bed instead of paying attention to my spouse;

For the sin of using ChatGPT to make R-rated content;

For the sin of not writing to the media when they print something full of antisemitic lies;

For the sin of believing The New York Times;

For the sin of reading The New York Times and not writing to them about every article related to Israel;

For the sin of not contacting Marvel to ensure that antisemitism and anti-Israel narratives don’t flood the screen;

For these sins related to media and social media, please pardon us

For the sin of playing the lottery weekly without my spouse’s knowledge;

For the sin of letting dishes soak when it’s my turn to clean up;

For the sin of “borrowing” a Netflix account;

For the sin of believing in my children too little; for believing in them too much;

For the sin of not visiting parents enough;

For these sins related to family, please pardon us

For the sin of blogging instead of exercising;

For the sin of reading emails while driving;

For the sin of sneaking desserts at 5AM;

For these sins related to health, please pardon us

For the sin of not subscribing to blogs I enjoy;

For all these things, please pardon us

For The Sins Of 5783…

For The Sins Of 5782…

For the Sins of 5780…

For the Sins of 5777 of…

October 7 And A Year

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

It has been 366 days since the largest and most savage massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. A year since 1,200 people were slaughtered, beheaded and burned alive. A year since a large scale mass sexual assault of women in Israel by invading jihadists. 366 days, and counting, of 101 people remaining as hostages in Gaza, of the 251 who were abducted on October 7, 2023.

It is a time to memorialize the dead. To remember their lives, dreams and aspirations which were cut short.

It is a time to recount the bravery of those who fought off the barbaric invaders to protect the innocent.

It is a time to call out the mass sexual assault committed by Palestinian Arabs, a vile crime against humanity.

It is a time to pray for the hostages, cut off from light, food, family, friends and a normal life.

And it has been that time, every day, for a year.

Over the past year, people attended public events at the United Nations, the National Mall in Washington and Times Square as well as private events at synagogues and community centers.

People have done ‘Run For Their Lives’, heard from survivors and politicians and watched countless videos and movies about the atrocities committed by Palestinian Arabs. They’ve donated to Israeli causes and volunteered sending goods to Israel. They put signs on their lawns and ribbons on the trees and lapels.

They’ve wept at concerts of Israeli singers, as they remembered their crew who was killed at the Nova Music Festival, and seeing Israeli soldiers reunited with their loved ones.

And they’ve gone to Israel. Packing items for soldiers and their families, donating blood, serving soldiers on their way in and out of the terrorist enclave of Gaza.

While praying and fighting for Israel, they’ve done the same in combating antisemitism in the diaspora. They’ve attended protests, provided support for students on hostile campuses, attended lectures and rallied to expel toxic politicians from office.

Manhattan Jewish experience discussing antisemitism on college campuses

People have written to the anti-Israel media and cancelled subscriptions, emailed politicians and switched political parties. They’ve stopped giving money to their alma maters and started donating to Jewish and Israeli causes they never considered – let alone prioritized – before.

New York Times referring to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as seeking equality for all religions

The trauma of the brutality continues past the year anniversary. Hostages remain. The Iranian Proxies War continues. The PTSD of raped women does not fade, nor for those who witnessed their family and friends killed.

Antisemites continue to rage on diaspora streets. Anti-Israel protestors rant on college campuses to burn Tel Aviv to the ground and to “Globalize the Intifada by any means necessary.” Politicians and university presidents appear unable or unwilling to stem the tidal wave of hate.

The world advocates to give peace prizes to those that torment Jews rather than those that normalize relations with the Jewish State. Politicians blame any real or potential personal misfortune on Jews. Leading Jewish politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Jerry Nadler lead the charge to vilify the Israeli government, paving the way for non-Jews to comfortably condemn Israel’s just defensive war.

There have been no great speeches by Israeli or Jewish political leaders. Jews have turned to podcasts for wisdom and to young Jewish men and women testifying before Congress to gain moral courage.

we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, June 4, 1940

A year since the savage Palestinian Arab massacre of Israelis, the bitter chill of isolation has set upon Jews in Israel and the diaspora. Exhausted, they will continue to fight the menace for their basic human rights, ideally with allies, if necessary for years, if necessary alone.

Rethinking Jewish and Israeli Charities (September 2024)

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

A Visit To A Nation Held Hostage (July 2024)

Antisemitic Wind Chill, Now In Westchester (January 2024)

Sharansky on Churchill’s “We Shall Fight Them On The Beaches” Speech For Jews Today (December 2023)

The March of Silent Feet (January 2020)

The Holocaust Will Not Be Colorized. The Holocaust Will Be Live. (May 2019)

A 2024 Nobel Peace Prize Shortlist Mocks The Death Of Jews

Posted on October 7, 2024 by First.One.Through

On October 3, 2024, the Director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Henrik Urdal, announced his updated list today for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. While PRIO is not associated with the Nobel committee, its views are considered influential. The list included:

OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms
UNRWA and Philippe Lazzarini
International Court of Justice (ICJ)
UNESCO and the Council of Europe

In selecting UNRWA, PRIO stated “The UN agency has faced a massive funding crisis for years, which has been exasperated by the war itself, and increasingly by the impact of US withdrawing funding following allegations by Israel that 12 participants of the 7 October attacks were Hamas militants, employed by UNRWA. The UN agency took the allegations seriously, by launching both an internal investigation and an external review of its procedures. UNRWA has extensive control mechanisms in place, with a zero tolerance, but not zero risk policy. They therefore terminated the employment of individuals where there was any indication that they might have had ties to militant groups. Throughout the war UNRWA itself has been heavily targeted by Israeli attacks, and by the end of September, 224 of its staff had been killed in Gaza, and 190 UNRWA installations had been damaged. UNRWA’s operation is absolutely fundamental to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. A Nobel Peace Prize to the agency and its Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini would send a strong message about its role in supporting the lives of millions of Palestinian women, men and children.”

Nowhere was it noted that UNRWA teaches its students to despise Israeli Jews. Nowhere was it mentioned that UNRWA has promised 6 million Palestinian Arabs – 42% of whom already live in historic region of Palestine – that their future is inside of Israel, whether Israel likes it or not.

In short-listing the ICJ, PRIO wrote “While a Nobel Peace Prize to the ICJ would largely be seen as uncontroversial, the Court acted boldly in January this year ordering Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip. In addition, it acted early in March 2022 by ordering Russia to ‘immediately suspend the military operations’ in Ukraine.”

The anti-Israel actions were not an accident or related to the current war.

In 2021, PRIO did not recommend Jared Kushner who helped engineer the Abraham Accords which formed normalization agreements between Israel and four Arab and Muslim countries, a feat which was once considered impossible. Instead it nominated B’Tselem & the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) for “contributing to raising awareness in Israel and elsewhere of the need for the Israeli regime to change course if the conflict is to have any chance of reaching a peaceful and just resolution.”

In short, the recommendations for a peace prize in the shadow of the brutal slaughter of Jews was to send a political message that Jews deserve neither peace nor justice; they should have neither until the Palestinian victims of preference achieve all of their goals.

ACTION ITEM

Contact PRIO at urdal@prio.org and +47 92 04 78 41 that the barbaric slaughter of Jews should be condemned clearly and the murderers brought to justice, and their protectors should not be celebrated on the global stage, a mockery to both living and dead Jews.

Israel at 75 (April 2023)

Will a Jailed Terrorist or a Terrorist Group Run the Palestinian Authority? (April 2021)

Jared Kushner’s Parents Donate $20 million to the First Hospital Likely to Win the Nobel Peace Prize (December 2016)

New York Times Grants Nobel Prize-in Waiting to Palestinian Arab Terrorist (February 2016)

Al Aqsa Mosque As A Safe Room?

Posted on October 7, 2024 by First.One.Through

After Iran fired over 180 missiles at Israel, Israel considered how to handle synagogue attendance during the Rosh Hashanah holiday. Synagogue attendance typically swells on the holy days, with even more secular Jews attending services. But most synagogues only have small mamads (safe rooms) to protect people during a shelling attack, so hundreds could be left unprotected during an attack.

The situation is even more dire at one of the largest synagogues in the world – the Western Wall Plaza at the Kotel – where thousands of Jews gather in the Old City of Jerusalem. The large outdoor location has few easily accessible places to hide from missiles.

Perhaps the grey-domed al Aqsa Mosque can be used by thousands of Jews as a safe room from jihadi missiles. The jihadists would presumably try to spare their religious building, making the mosque a potential haven for Jews.

*Al Aqsa Mosque from outside Jerusalem’s Old City walls (photo: First One Through)*

Hamas termed their barbaric slaughter of Israelis the “al Aqsa Flood.” Perhaps it didn’t imagine that the term would become a prophecy inverted, drawing masses of Jews onto the Temple Mount.

CAIR Thinks Protecting Synagogues Is A Political Stunt And Waste Of Taxpayers Money (September 2024)

Protecting Synagogues Like Abortion Clinics (July 2024)

Palestinian Poll About October 7 Massacre (November 2023)

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

Every Picture Tells a Story: Israel Is Scared of Female Iranian Shoppers (February 2021)

Considering Nazis and Radical Islam on the 75th Anniversary of D-Day (June 2019)

The Disproportionate Defenses of Israel and the Palestinian Authority (July 2015)

Platforming The ‘Third Intifada’

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

College campuses have become awash in calls for an “Intifada” which some anti-Israel apologists say is only a call for another independent Arab state. Others acknowledge it as a call to destroy the Jewish State of Israel echoing the genocidal jihadists. Others say it encompasses a Diaspora Intifada, which comes for Zionists and Israel supporters everywhere.

University presidents are attempting to figure out how to allow civil discourse and free speech. Many allow students to take over campuses with calls to destroy an American ally and hunt Jews, as long as there’s no immediate call for violence. Some give professors tenure to spew their toxic opinions and instill Jew hatred like medieval preachers discussing blood libels.

The U.S. Congress is doing much the same.

On May 9, 2019, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi invited Imam Omar Suleiman to give a prayer at Congress. Suleiman was already well known for his rhetoric about “Free Palestine” and what an ‘Intifada’ meant: a war to destroy the State of Israel.

As the 2014 Israel-Hamas war started, Soleiman tweeted “The 3rd Intifada starts on the 27th night of Ramadan. Oh Allah make it blessed. #FreePalestine #48kmarch.” Just as the war was concluding, he tweeted much the same: “For the first time since 1967, Masjid Al Aqsa is closed. A third intifada is near insha’Allah #FreePalestine.”

None of these sentiments was disqualifying for Pelosi. She thought that a person calling for the destruction of an ally was appropriate to elevate to the national stage.

In the current Iranian proxies war against Israel, Suleiman continues to call for the destruction of Israel. After Hassan Nasrallah (fungus be upon him), the leader of the terrorist group Hezbollah was assassinated by Israel, Suleiman called to his followers to “continue to persevere” in the goal of eradicating the Jewish State.

The platforms which call for the destruction of the only Jewish State, where nearly half of Jewry lives, are plentiful: social media, universities and at governments. The defense is ‘free speech’ which a flimsy veneer to allow a voice for those who had typically not been seen or heard. While free speech is about CONTENT, today’s version is about the SPEAKER, and society is demanding those speakers be platformed regardless of what they say.

Noted White supremacists don’t get invited to address the House of Representatives nor given tenure at Ivy League schools. Universities have not permitted the KKK to have chapters on 250 college campuses like Students for Justice in Palestine.

The tenet of free speech and goal of giving voice to the unheard are seemingly complementary but alarmingly discordant today.

At least to Jews, who have suffered more hate crimes than any community for millenia. Now told to shut up and listen to the bile, as the victims of preference have the floor.

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

Drawing Muhammed On U.S. College Campuses (May 2024)

Why Should Columbia Protect Jews If The Government Won’t? (April 2024)

Considering Campus Antisemitism (November 2023)

Should The KKK Open Chapters In Every American University, What Say You? (October 2023)

The Center Of Intersectionality Sounds Like Adolf Hitler (July 2023)

The Anti-Semitic Replacement Theory of White and Islamic Extremists (May 2022)

The Campus Inquisition (April 2022)

NY Times Considers Notion That Terrorism Against Israel is a Matter of Free Speech (January 2021)

Victims of Preference (July 2020)

The Insidious Jihad in America (July 2019)

Inclusion versus Attention, and The Failure of American Leadership (March 2019)

Covering Racism (March 2018)

Is It Racist To Ponder Rashida Tlaib’s Terrorism Ties?

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

The National Review posted a cartoon in the aftermath of the political-terrorist group Hezbollah’s pagers blowing up around Lebanon and Syria, of U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) sitting at her desk and pondering why her pager had just exploded. In response, many of her alt-left comrades rallied to her and accused the right-leaning media company of racism.

If Tlaib was targeted solely because she is an Arab Muslim, that would certainly be offensive and racist.

But Talib is much more than that.

For one thing, she is a vile antisemite and anti-Zionist. She trafficked in antisemitic tropes accusing Jews of trying to kill Black and Brown people around the world for profit at the Democratic Socialists of America annual conference in 2021. Her comments calling for the destruction of Israel earned her a bipartisan censure of Congress in 2023.

Tlaib has a history of falsely attacking Israel as engaging in “ethnic cleansing”, “apartheid” and “genocide.” She has also refused to call for Hamas to be held accountable for actual premediated genocide and ethnic cleansing. She seemingly believes that the best defense for Palestinian Arab terrorism is to go on the attack to make their evil actions appear warranted.

Does someone’s antisemitism and hatred of Israel warrant being labeled terrorist-adjacent, at least in jest?

On October 25, 2023, Canary Mission alleged that Tlaib has extensive fundraising ties to the Palestinian political-terrorist group Hamas. In July 2023, A Telegram channel linked to jihadi factions fighting against the Bashar Al-Assad regime in Syria said that Rep. Ilhan Omar and Tlaib are getting money from Iran to support lifting sanctions against the leading state sponsor of terror.

Tlaib was one of the only members of Congress who refused to support a resolution condemning Iranian attacks on Israel. The fourteen members that refused to condemn Iran were almost the exact cohort that accused the National Review of anti-Arab bigotry, including disgraced Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY).

The recent exploding pager attack was narrowly targeted to members of Hezbollah, and hit those in its orbit including the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon. It clearly demonstrates the ties between politicians and the terrorist group, hence the cartoon.

Hamas and Hezbollah are both radical jihadi groups with manifestos calling for the destruction of Israel (“It’s destination is manifested in our motto, ‘Death to Israel'”- Hezbollah; “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.” – Hamas). Tlaib has not stated anything that extreme, even though she defends the groups’ crimes against humanity.

Had the cartoon been made using Rep. Jamaal Bowman, would people have made a charge of racism about the cartoon? Is the alt-left’s aggressive defense of Tlaib acknowledgment that 75% of Palestinian Arabs support the heinous Hamas massacre of Jewish women, children and the elderly?

While other alt-left members of Congress have a few reasons for possibly being portrayed as anti-Israel, Tlaib is the unquestioned champion of vile antisemitism, promoting libels about Israel, defending anti-Israel terrorist groups and taking funds from their supporters.

The charge of “anti-Arab bigotry and Islamophobia” does not hold.

Tlaib And Bowman Have Aligned With Terrorists To Destroy Israel And America (May 2024)

Over Half A Million Gazans Support Killing Jewish Civilians. They Are Being Sponsored In Congress By Tlaib And Bowman (March 2024)

Rashida Tlaib Wants Shooters Of Palestinians Held Accountable, NOT Palestinian Shooters (November 2023)

Apartheid In Palestinian Authority, Not Israel (May 2022)

Tlaib Shields Anti-Semitic Murderers, If Not White (June 2021)

Criticizing Muslim Antisemitism is Not Islamophobia (March 2019)

The Diaspora Intifada

Posted on September 20, 2024 by First.One.Through

American Jews fear for their basic safety.

They are scared when praying in their synagogues, visiting Jewish community centers and when they go out to dine. They are scared when they walk on the street or attend classes at school.

In April 2024, the rabbi at Columbia University told the Jewish students to leave campus and return home in an email stating that the school’s policies “have made it clear that Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety.” It has continued into the Fall 2024 semester, when another New York City school, CUNY’s Baruch College told Jewish students that they could not hold a Rosh Hashana celebration because the school could not “guarantee their security.”

*New York Post article blasting the City University of New York being unable to protect basic Jewish human rights*

The intimidation, harassment, denial of Jewish human rights and antisemitic attacks since the October 7 attack on the Jewish State of Israel have skyrocketed, especially at universities.

The U.S. House of Representatives held several hearings about the horrific rise in antisemitic attacks at universities. Rep. Foxx (R-NC), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, was tireless in her efforts to expose the systemic Jew-hatred prevalent in the institutions – or antisemitic ambivalence, should one choose to be charitable – which receive billions of dollars of government handouts. The Senate’s Republicans wanted a similar panel but are the minority party so could not force a discussion on the topic.

Instead, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, held a generic discussion on September 17, 2024 on “A Threat to Justice Everywhere: Stemming the Tide of Hate Crimes in America.” He and fellow Democrats pointed out that hate crimes against all groups are a problem, just as shrill members of the House like Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) objected to the special hearing on antisemitism during the Foxx hearings in April 2024.

Despite the Democratic chair calling for a generic hearing on hate crimes, he pulled a narrow panel which consisted of a Muslim Arab, a Jewish rabbi, and a liberal apologist for antisemitism. There was no one there to talk about the most prevalent hate crime – attacks on Black people – revealing the thin veneer of the title meant to obfuscate the obvious problem of antisemitism.

But Democratic politicians were loathe to simply discuss rampant antisemitism without ALSO discussing the much less prevalent anti-Muslim hate crimes. Every Democratic senator on the panel made a point of discussing a wide range of hate crimes to appear balanced, even though the scale of Jew-hatred dwarves hate crime against every other group, and has for years, while Republican senators were laser-focused on antisemitic attacks.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) was apoplectic about the refusal to hold hearings specifically on antisemitism (start 1:55:50). He showed the steady rise of antisemitic hate crimes in the U.S. since 2014, with a terrible escalation starting at the beginning of the Biden Administration in 2021 and then again in 2022, before skyrocketing in 2023.

Cruz demanded that more attention be paid to Jew-hatred, a vile form of hatred that has led to genocide. He called college campuses vile “incubators of hatred of Jews,” and went on to list comments by students and student organizations that threatened Jews, including a Jewish student being told to “go back to the gas chambers.”

Cruz also called out the administrations such as M.I.T., which refused to prosecute some of the antisemitic agitators because if the school did, “the students risked losing their visas and being deported.” As he went on to criticize the Democratic administration and local Democratic politicians for refusing to enforce the law because they feared the “pro-Hamas wing of the party,” anti-Israel people in the audience began to protest (2:01:00). The senator concluded his remarks by noting that no university has yet lost federal funding despite being clearly in non-compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) was similarly angered by the unchecked Jew hatred at universities. He showcased a poster of a student holding a Palestinian flag and a sign which read “THERE IS ONLY ONE SOLUTION,” a reference to the Nazi’s “Final Solution” to exterminate Jews. He showed another with a banner “LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA.”

Maya Berry of the Arab American Institute (AAI) testified that she objected to automatically inferring that the term “intifada” meant the violent slaughter of infidels, such as the brutal “Second Intifada” in Israel where Muslim Palestinian Arabs blew up buses and ice cream parlors full of kids, killing over 1,000 people. Berry said (2:10:15) that intifada “literally just means ‘to shake off’ or ‘get rid of’.” She would not agree that intifada necessarily means the violent destruction of Israel, while it could mean that. She essentially educated the committee that ‘intifada’ is an umbrella Arabic word that could mean a silent protest or the raping and beheading of infidels. Lots of in between.

Unmentioned in the hearing were the perpetrators of the antisemitic attacks. Sen. Durbin mentioned “white supremacists” repeatedly in his comments but no one directly pointed to the pro-Hamas extremists in the fringes of the Muslim and socialist communities who are overwhelmingly the perpetrators of Jew-hatred crimes today.

Whether it’s CAIR-backed protestors taunting Jews at the doorsteps of synagogues or during the anniversary of the October 7 massacre, or threatening non-Jews who don’t abide by the fanatical jihadist credo, the Diaspora Intifada is here.

The president of Rutgers University, Jonathan Holloway who is not Jewish, told a House committee in May 2024 that he did not believe that Israel is a genocidal state and that “intifada” and “from the river to the sea” are calls for violence. He and his family were subsequently threatened and he announced his resignation last week due to fear for his and his family’s safety.

*Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway announcing his resignation due to fear for his family’s safety*

The Intifadas in Israel are genocidal jihadist attacks to slaughter Jews and destroy Israel. The Diaspora Intifada is more “nuanced” as AAI’s Berry said, and may mean violence and rape or it may simply be taunting and harassment.

It definitely means fear.