The year 2021 saw a spike in readership during the May 2021 Gaza War and then a decline to much lower levels. The dynamic of Facebook pulling back on showing articles continues to impact readership with Facebook readership down by 50%.
Overall, there were 158 articles written during the year, averaging about 700 words each.
The top countries reading the articles remained the same as last year: United States, Israel, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa, with South Africa readership declining significantly. The biggest rise in readership came from Ireland, jumping to #7 from 15th place. Other countries with a jump in readership include: Italy, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
The articles are being translated into more languages including German, Dutch and Norwegian. Hopefully more people will translate the pages and repost the articles in the coming year, including into French and Spanish. The only request is to include a link to the original articles.
I have now written over 1,000 articles totaling over 860,000 words since May, 2014, without any compensation from advertisements or requests for donations. The only asks are to share the articles with friends and elected officials, and have others subscribe to the blog.
UNRWA is a deeply flawed organization that manages to get worse.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East claims that its mission is one of humanitarian work devoid of any politics but that is plainly not so. It proclaims to be independent when it it is clearly not.
“Independence is understood to mean that “humanitarian action must be autonomous from the political, economic, military or other objectives that any actor may hold with regard to areas where humanitarian action is being implemented.” In other words, without independence and the autonomy that it affords the Agency, UNRWA would be at risk of being diverted from its humanitarian trajectory and its commitment to the other three Humanitarian Principles of humanity, impartiality, and neutrality.“
“It is only by being truly independent that UNRWA can respect the principles of neutrality and impartiality, and therefore only be driven by humanity.“
While UNRWA claims to understand that neutrality, impartiality and independence are critical for its mission, it remains a tool for the roughly 30,000 Palestinian Arabs who work for the agency, the 6.4 million (and growing) people who are registered with the agency, and the global anti-Zionist community which enjoy ripping at the seams of the Jewish State.
In time for the holidays and tax planning, UNRWA continues to ask Americas for money, seemingly unsatisfied with the $7.6 billion that tax payers have given to the Palestinians since 1993, which has yielded no peace. The agency which claims that politics is poison to its mission, led with politics in its 2021 year-end appeal:
UNRWA led with distorted politics in its year-end appeal for donations
UNRWA asked for money for “families in Gaza and Lebanon to secure their basic needs, giving them options and hope. (UNRWA’s emphasis),” ideally with donations of as large as $1,000. The reason that they need this money is declared in the opening lines: “Occupation, repeated military assaults, crippling blockades.” Are these three lines anything but smears and politics? Are they even factually correct? Since when is Lebanon under theses stresses? The Gazans initiate the repeated military assaults and are the cause of the blockade.
Knowing that it led with inflammatory language, the second paragraph backtracks and starts “Politics aside,” Indeed, politics. What else can be expected from an organization run by the largest political machine in the world, which makes it particular inept at carrying out humanitarian missions.
UNRWA is a prison which keeps millions of people tethered to the organization with the threat that if they deregister, they will no longer be classified as refugees and not entitled to millions of dollars from Israel.
It unilaterally extended its mandate beyond the contours of its formation which called for its wards to be either compensated or settled somewhere, with the declaration in April 2020 that it will live on until “a comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state solution.” That’s ridiculous. Why would a future-compensated descendant of a refugee living in Lebanon continue to need free housing, healthcare and education from UNRWA while Israelis and Palestinians debate water rights in the Jordan Valley?
Entrance to UNRWA’s Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem portrayed as a keyhole with a key on top, demonstrating that the pathway to ancestors’ homes is via UNRWA.
And it is bad at what it does. It is proportionately staffed by 20 times as many people as the UNHR which cares for actual refugees. Palestinian parents who have a choice, send their children to non-UNRWA schools.
UNRWA is a political tool dressed as a humanitarian organization. It is an embarrassment for the UN, the Palestinians forced to stay tethered to the over-staffed beast, and the well-meaning countries and people who fall for the marketing and advertising blitz with donations of hard-earned monies.
Queen Rania of Jordan – herself a Palestinian Arab – at a United Nations event in September 2009 to mark the 60th anniversary of UNRWA
On December 28, 2007, three frustrated Palestinian Arabs were riding in a jeep when they saw two Israeli men and a woman hiking. Ahikam Amihai (20) and David Rubin (21), both of Kiryat Arba were killed while the woman managed to hide behind a rock in the riverbed and escaped. Of the three Jews, Ahikam was especially known for his “love for hiking in Israel. Ahikam knew every spring, every path. He hiked throughout Israel at every opportunity, walking quickly, glancing for a moment at the map, sleeping and eating in the field. Thousands of photos carefully marked and placed in albums document these hikes.” One of the caves he investigated yielded a discovery of a new life form – something of a hybrid between a scorpion and shrimp.
The Palestinians were obviously upset at seeing the Israeli Jews walking in nature on what they perceived as purely Arab land with “their filthy feet.” The desecration was too much too bear, so they resorted to firing on the hikers with assault rifles.
Hikers at the opening of a cave in Nahal Telem
The three Arabs who killed the two young men acted on their own, even as Fatah, Islamic Jihad and Hamas all claimed responsibility for the attack. Such is the collective frustration of the Palestinian people at seeing Jews taking nature hikes with impunity.
On December 27, 2002, two very frustrated Palestinian Arabs broke into a yeshiva kitchen on Friday night, as young men prepared Sabbath dinners for over one hundred students. The two Arabs were armed with battle vests, M16 assault rifles and hand grenades as they faced off against boys carrying food to their friends in the town of Otniel. The upset Arabs killed Noam Apter, 23, of Shilo; Yehuda Bamberger, 20, of Karnei Shomron; Gavriel Hoter, 17, of Alonei Habashan; and Zvi Zieman, 18 of Reut.
The Palestinians were clearly worried that these Jews might prepare some offensive food items that would insult Arab heritage. The Jewish Sabbath gefilte fish and chicken soup were not considered native to Arab lands, and served as an insult to the Arab palate.
Yeshiva in Otniel
The two protesting Arabs who killed the four boys were members of Islamic Jihad which is considered a terrorist group by the United States, European Union, The United Kingdom, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Israel. Its primary sponsor is the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose leader said in 2000 “the Palestinian people must continue the blessed Jihad and standing against the enemies of Islam…The Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah forces must continue the struggle in a united way. Indeed, the only solution is the elimination of the root of this crisis, which is the Zionist regime imposed on the region.“
Iran and Palestinian Arabs angered over the menu choices of Israeli Jews mark this day with celebratory meals.
On December 27, 1985 several very frustrated Palestinians attacked people standing in line at the El Al counters at the airports in Rome, Italy and Vienna, Austria. Seven Arabs used assault rifles and hand grenades against hundreds of people waiting to get on flights to Israel. They killed nineteen people and injured over one hundred.
The Palestinians were worried that these tourists might buy strawberries from the West Bank and generally support the Israeli economy. They anticipated that these pro-Zionists might also one day support blockading the Gaza Strip and erecting a security barrier in the West Bank to stop further acts of resistance.
New York Times headline not describing the terrorists as Palestinian Arabs
Many people are familiar with the Jewish tradition of breaking a glass at the end of a wedding ceremony. It has become the marker for when people go from sitting quietly to screaming “mazel tov!” for the new couple.
The shattering of the glass traditionally is accompanied by a few lines from Psalm 137 (5-6) which are sung in a subdued manner:
let my tongue stick to my palate if I cease to think of you, if I do not keep Jerusalem in memory even at my happiest hour.
One would imagine that keeping “Jerusalem in memory even at my happiest hour” would imply making such memory very festive at a wedding ceremony. That is when the bride and groom are at their “happiest hour,” and as they burst for joy, they should sing about Jerusalem in that same boisterous spirit, not one of solemnity capped by broken glass.
The entirety of Psalm 137 must be internalized to appreciate how Jews incorporate these few lines of song at a wedding. Here are the opening lines (1-4) which precede the wedding song:
The nature of the Psalm is one of sorrow. Tormented in diaspora, the local nations taunted the Jewish people to sing, but the joy of song could not be completed while on foreign soil. The “right hand wither[ing]” and “tongue stuck on my palate” are expressions that no harp can be played nor song uttered about Zion and Jerusalem while stuck far away.
With such orientation, consider the following wedding celebrated during the COVID pandemic:
A young man made aliyah and joined the Israeli army as a lone soldier. He completed his study at a Hesder yeshiva and his army service, and then met a beautiful girl. She had also made aliyah, albeit more recently, as she waited to hear from graduate programs in the U.S. They fell in love and got engaged with plans to marry in Israel together with their new community of friends. Unfortunately, as they spent a semester in the United States to take courses, they got stuck due to COVID restrictions and could not have the wedding in Jerusalem. They hastily made arrangements to get married in the diaspora, despite their best efforts and plans.
With the unexpected backdrop, the bride and groom finally stood beneath the wedding canopy. The chazan – who himself had made aliyah but happened to be in the U.S. for another affair – sang Psalm 137 verses 5 and 6 and then paused, as is the custom in Israel, for the groom to repeat the two sentences.
As the groom recited those words, everyone in attendance was pulled by this couple’s longing to be in Israel, and internalized line 4 from the Psalm which was unsung but deeply felt: How can we sing a song of the LORD on alien soil?
Hopefully this new couple will be blessed to share many happy anniversaries in the land in their hearts, the Jewish holy city of Jerusalem.
Palestinian Arabs have a long history of instilling their hatred of Jews and Israelis into their children.
Palestinian Arabs are by far the most anti-Semitic adults, with an astounding 93% – almost every single adult – hating Jews. For years, they have been passing on their hatred by naming schools, public squares and tournaments after terrorists who kill Jews. The textbooks used in classrooms are replete with horrific depictions of Jews and Israelis. The political-terrorist group Hamas which runs the terrorist enclave of Gaza runs summer camps teaching children how to kill Israelis.
The lifeblood of Palestinian Jew-hatred has a companion, and that is the love of killing Jews.
Consider the Christmas cartoon published by a virulently anti-Zionist Socialist extremist site called Mondoweiss. They showed Santa wearing a kaffiyeh, running amidst burning tires and pelting Israeli soldiers with coal.
Mondoweiss cartoon showing Santa Claus attacking Israeli soldier
This is the message of joy for children – violence. Happiness isn’t peaceful coexistence but routing Jews.
Palestinian Arabs have long celebrated the murder of Jews by handing out candies and desserts after terrorists successfully kill Israelis. They have children stand on the street passing out the celebratory treats while the parents and children in Israel mourn for their loved ones.
But the anti-Zionist movement wants people – including children – to love the violence.
Mondoweiss, whose founders include radical Jewish socialists, is funded by tax-deductible donations. That means that your tax dollars help support the indoctrination of children to love acts of violence. Something to share with your elected officials.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, who serves as the President of Reform Judaism, took to the pages of the Jerusalem Post on December 23, 2021 to demand prayer space for non-Orthodox Jews on the Jewish Temple Mount. Long frustrated by the delay in implementing an egalitarian space at the Kotel, the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount, Jacobs thought it was time to move on.
“We created a painful but fair compromise that would make the Kotel a place for all Jewish people, from the most liberal to the most orthodox,” but the Israeli government has yet to institute the agreed upon solution, as “Netanyahu capitulated to pressure from the ultra-Orthodox parties” wrote Jacobs. “Making space at the Wall for pluralistic Jewish prayer will proclaim that there is more than one authentic way to live a Jewish life of meaning and purpose,” but alas, Jacobs does not see that happening.
Jacobs noted that the current Israeli government is unlikely to push forward on implementing the compromise solution so he has decided to move on – to the Temple Mount itself.
Jacobs noted that the Orthodox Jews truly revere the Kotel and he is fine letting them have it. He is going up top, with specific rights for non-Orthodox Jews. He added “Orthodox will have sole control over the prayer space that they cherish. For the first time, the non-Orthodox will have a dignified space where we can pray,” on the Al Aqsa Compound. He called this divide a “Solomonic solution, teaching all Jews the power of compromise and unity, and fulfilling Isaiah’s bold prophecy.“
Rick Jacobs (center) at the Kotel Plaza in 2016 advocating for an egalitarian prayer space
When questioned whether he thought the Islamic Waqf would have an issue with non-Orthodox prayer on what Muslims revere as the Al Aqsa Compound, he was nonplussed. “The Waqf doesn’t want ‘settlers’ praying on the Temple Mount but the non-Orthodox worshippers will be tourists from abroad as there are virtually no non-Orthodox Israelis who visit the site.“
When pressed further about the Reform movement’s views on ‘settlements’ including the Old City of Jerusalem, Jacobs said that Reform Judaism “has a long-standing policy of opposition to the Israeli settlements in the West Bank,” and also opposes “eviction/displacement of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, [and] elsewhere in East Jerusalem,” but he doesn’t think there is hypocrisy in advocating for non-Orthodox Jewish prayer on the the Temple Mount.
“Let me be clear, the current Israeli government does not believe in religious freedom and equality for non-Orthodox Jews,” so it’s time to bring our case before the Islamic Waqf. He added that “Judaism and Islam stem from the same foundational idea that we are the Children of Abraham, descendants of our common patriarchs and matriarchs,” and is sure that the Muslims will welcome non-Israeli, non-Orthodox Jewish extremists to pray alongside them on the Al Aqsa Compound.
“Inshallah,” he added. That will really be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy “For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all. (Isaiah 56:7)“
While many people consider the Muslim Arab – Israeli Conflict to be a complicated matter, there are some simple facts beyond dispute: Hamas is a vile anti-Semitic terrorist group, that is very popular among the stateless Arabs from Palestine (SAPs). The political-terrorist group demonizes Jews, calls for Israel’s destruction and is flatly against any type of peace deal with the Jewish State.
So it is surprising that Hamas barely gets mentioned in the repeated United Nations Security Council meetings on the conflict, which are presumably about finding a peaceful solution in the region.
On December 21, 2021, the UNSC met – as it does regularly – to hear a report from Tor Wennesland, the highly-biased Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. In response to his remarks, the fifteen member countries of the council responded in an echo of condemnation against Israel for building homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria. Somehow they have been brainwashed by the SAPs’ narrative that they cannot have a viable state if there is a Jewish kindergarten nearby.
Remarkably, there was only one country – Kenya – that called out the Palestinian terrorist group for condemnation.
Gideon Kinuthia Ndung’U of Kenya condemned the “recent terror attacks and shootings that Hamas and other groups continue to laud and claim, [and] stressed that no cause can justify the deliberate targeting of civilians. These acts of terror must cease.“
It’s a simple statement that should be repeated everywhere (and is, except when the terrorists are Palestinian Arabs), but alas, Kenya was the sole voice to condemn this vile terrorist group.
Richard Mills of the United States “urged [Israeli and Palestinian] authorities to condemn violence and respond in a proportionate and reasonable manner,” but did not do so himself.
T.S. Tirumurti of India noted that “violent attacks against Palestinian and Israeli civilians, acts of destruction, provocation and incitement have continued during the reporting period. Condemning all such acts, he called upon the parties to immediately make concrete efforts to reverse these negative trends.” It was a balanced approach, but failed to called out the persistent underlying cause for violence stemming from Gaza.
Nicolas de Riviere of France didn’t offer a word about Palestinian Arab attacks and opted to use his time to condemn Jewish homes, while calling for donations to the Terrorist Enclave in Gaza.
The most appalling speaker was ISIS Azalea Maria Gonsalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines who read a script that may have been produced by the media outlets Al Manar (Hezbollah) and Al Aqsa (Hamas), spewing vitriol against Israel and defending all Palestinians, including the terrorists in Gaza.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, hold flags of their countries at State House in Nairobi, Kenya, July 5, 2016
Thank Kenya for calling out the evil and violence of Hamas at 202.387.6101, 202.796.2079 or 212.421.4744. Their email is information@kenyaembassydc.org.
There are many signs that society has lost its moorings.
‘Woke’ America makes the argument daily with inanity such as the charge that math is racist and the demand to ‘defund the police’ as if anarchy is a model society. Left-wing activists are similarly trying to change the very meaning of words with new spins that only White people can be racist by definition, and smears that Israel, the most liberal country in the Middle East, is an ‘apartheid‘ state.
Stupidity is not confined to alt-left sensitivities. Society as a whole is outraged by offenses much less grave than serious crimes which are ignored.
Consider The New York Times and its treatment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For years the left-wing paper gave a pass to one of the most repressive regimes in the world which doesn’t allow a woman to drive or leave the home without a male escort. It said nothing about the country’s policy of executing minors or its public beheadings.
In its see/hear/say no evil orientation, The Times sold expensive tourist packages to the country. At least, until the crown price was accused of killing the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Then the media conglomerate found its spine to cancel its lavish junket. Beheading juveniles was deemed a lesser offense than killing a fellow journalist.
It goes on today with American politics as well, like New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo was directly responsible for killing thousands of older New Yorkers during the early months of the COVID pandemic when he ordered coronavirus patients to be sent to nursing homes. Cuomo then directed his staff to lie about the nursing home deaths to make it appear that he was doing a great job handling the crisis. Not a surprise, as he was being paid millions of dollars to write a book about his leadership during the pandemic. The depravity of conceit!
And society cheered this man, until he did something truly unforgivable – he sexually harassed women in his office. Only at that point did society turn on him.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo allegedly placed his hands on Anna Ruch’s cheeks at a wedding party in 2019 and asked if he could kiss her. Cuomo was undone by sexual harassment charges but not for killing thousands of seniors and ordering the cover-up, as he sought millions of dollars for writing a ‘leadership’ book.
A healthy society can easily identify and call out depravity; but we are far from healthy. Even before the pandemic, we let our minds become infected with the adrenaline of righteous rage as we embarked on witch hunts of minor offenses, ignoring the glaring evil before our eyes. Now, trapped in the cycles of closures, our anger buys distrust, so we vilify counter opinions and embrace the tyrants who feed our faiths.
Vaccines and time we will eventually vanquish the coronavirus pandemic, but we must seek a cure for the mental illness which confuses the all-out assault to flatten society’s hierarchy, with blinding rage preventing people from seeing the spectrum between good and evil.
First One Through 