There is a fantastic idea that has been floated around the Middle East for many decades: two states for two peoples, one Jewish and the other Arab. Even though the notion continues to be bantered in political circles, few details are understood about what that plan means.
The pro-Palestinian camp talks about “THE” two state solution, meaning the Arab Peace Initiative proposed in 2002. The United States and other governments talk about “A” two state solution, which could mean a wide variety of negotiated outcomes. The United Nations has a third alternative, which is the most toxic and has directly led to permanent hostilities between Israel and its neighbors.
“THE” 2 State Solution: Arab Peace Initiative
There are three primary matters which stand between Israel and the Palestinian Authority: land/borders; capital city; and the future of Palestinian refugees.
Land: The API calls for Israel to withdraw from ALL territories taken in its defensive war of June 1967. This would include Gaza, the West Bank, the Sinai, Golan Heights, and areas of southern Lebanon still under dispute. Israel has already withdrawn from some of those lands including Sinai, Gaza and many areas of the West Bank. The API seeks the remainder.
Capital: The API calls for East Jerusalem to be the capital of a new Palestine. An early draft of the API called for “al-Quds al-Sharif as its capital,” seemingly softening the stance to something Israel could accept.
Refugees: The API states that Palestinian Arabs outside of Israel will seemingly not move to the Jewish State. The final language of “Assures the rejection of all forms of Palestinian patriation which conflict with the special circumstances of the Arab host countries,” may only be in reference to UNRWA Palestinians in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan whom the API thinks should not have to settle them. The API language was in sharp contrast to an earlier version which stated “To accept to find an agreed, just solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees in conformity with Resolution 194,” which would have given Palestinians wishing to live in peace with Israel the option of either moving there or getting compensation.
“A” Two State Solution
The United States and Israel see the end of the conflict differently. Through the Madrid Conference and Oslo Accords, as well as other efforts made by the Obama Administration in 2014 and the Trump Administration’s “Deal of the Century,” the three major matters had different contours.
Land: Israel believes that it has already given back some of the territory it took in June 1967. It returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt and handed Gaza and major population centers in the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority. UN Resolution 242 (1967) called for “withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict” which does not call for ALL territory to be abandoned.
The United States agrees. The Obama Administration tried to broker a series of land swaps which would have essentially given Palestinians a state on the same amount of land but in different locations than came about from the 1949 Armistice Lines (49AL). The Trump Administration started with the same concept that the 49AL were arbitrary and not conducive to long-term peace and that Israel has already complied with the land provision of Res. 242. Team Trump did not try to match a certain number of square kilometers with history, and instead sought to create borders which accounted for current reality on the ground and a dynamic to forge an enduring peace.
Capital: Israel annexed the section of Jerusalem that was divided for nineteen years between 1949 and 1967, and further extended the municipal boundaries. It considers the city its eternal capital, but has offered sections of the city to be part of a Palestinian State as part of the peace efforts, with American prodding.
Refugees: Israel has offered some limited number of Palestinian Arabs to move to Israel. The figures have ranged from 10,000 to 100,000 over time under different plans. The US position has long been that Palestinian Arabs should move to the new Arab State, as the basic principle of two states for two people.
The United Nations’ Two State Solution
The UN’s plan is the most aggressively pro-Palestinian of the three.
The UN agrees with the API regarding a new Palestinian State on all of the land in Gaza and the West Bank being part of Palestine, as well as East Jerusalem being the capital of the country. However, it continues to insist on the full “right of return” for six million “Palestine Refugees” who are registered with UNRWA in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
The UN’s promise to Palestine Refugees has caused them to be frustrated by the failure to move to neighborhoods where grandparents used to live. It has led them to build terrorist tunnels to penetrate the land which the UN promises to them, rather than build an economy. It has kept them in a restive state for generations, not accepting the existence of the “Zionist entity” which they believe will soon cease to exist according to recent polls.
The United Nations’ adoption of Palestinians as their perennial wards has harmed peace in the region. It has a position on refugees which it knows Israel cannot accept, deliberately putting the Jewish State as the obstacle to peace rather than a counterparty with whom to find a solution. Permanently putting Israel on the defensive with one-sided resolutions makes Israel unwilling to seriously consider the UN on any matter.
It is destructive to any peace process for the United Nations to call for a “two-state solution” without clearly articulating that there is no “right of return” to Israel. The death toll in the region will certainly rise while Palestinian Arabs believe their future is in Israeli homes.
On Christmas Eve, The New York Times chose to publish an opinion letter by the mayor of Gaza City, Yahya Sarraj. Sarraj was appointed to his role by the ruling authority of Gaza, Hamas.
Hamas was launched in 1987 as the Palestinian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. Its 1988 charter is the most antisemitic foundational charter ever written, calling for the killing of Jews as a religious obligation by the world’s Muslims. Palestinians elected Hamas to 58% of the parliament in 2006 with this genocidal charter. On October 2023, it made good on its promise to Palestinians with the invasion and brutal slaughter of 1,200 people in Israel.
The Times figured that it would give its Sunday platform to a member of this U.S.-designated terrorist organization, as a form of support that people assume only comes from TikTok. Sarraj got to plead his case that Israel is attacking a peace-loving enclave. The dozens of squares, schools, buildings and tournaments named after terrorists in and around Gaza City were not listed. The polls which show that the vast majority of Gazans have consistently embraced killing Jewish civilians inside of Israel since 2000, was also omitted.
Leaders of the Taliban, al Qaeda and ISIS were not given a prominent platform at The New York Times. But they hadn’t just killed over a thousand Jews.
ACTION ITEM
Write to letters@nytimes.com “Giving a platform to a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization is unlawful and immoral. You have put the lives of millions of Jews in danger by airing Hamas propaganda.”
On November 15, 1988, Palestine declared itself a brand new country, “an Arab state, an integral and indivisible part of the Arab nation”, “with its capital Jerusalem (Al-Quds Ash-Sharif).” The government of Israel worked to solidify the contours of such state during the Oslo Accords which came crashing down in September 2000.
The Palestinian territories have various stand-alone armies and militias including Hamas and Islamic Jihad
There is no functioning central government, as the west bank of the Jordan River/ east of the Green Line (EGL) and Gaza strip are administered independently, by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, respectively
Internal fighting, as witnessed in the 2007 rout of the PA by Hamas forces in Gaza, and various extrajudicial killings between those parties have continued since then
There is no border integrity as bedlam prevails in Gaza, Sinai and Israeli towns near the border of Gaza, highlighted by the October 7, 2023 massacre launched by Hamas into Israel
Lack of functioning economy and widespread unemployment due to the extremely high percentage of people under 25 years old and constant focus on destroying Israel rather than building an economy
No presidential or legislative elections, as they were suspended due to the splits mentioned above. The presidential election was last held in 2005 and PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s four-year term expired in 2009
Pervasive corruption of “ruling” elites angering the Palestinian Arab population nominally under PA control
The failed economy and security as well as gross mismanagement have led to the complete illegitimacy of the government
Failed states like Palestine are a danger to their populations and surrounding countries. They are safe havens for terrorist groups, illegal drug and weapons trades, and disease. October 7, 2023 highlighted the destructive carnage such failed states can inflict on neighboring countries.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace believes that the pathway to stability must begin with security, that is, a single government with one army. “The most important manifestations of state failure are the breakdown of internal security and the increasing inability of the state to control borders and territory and to exert its monopoly on the use of force. Interventions to prevent the failure of states at risk should focus more narrowly on restoring the state’s capacity to perform these tasks.” The dozens of rogue armed terrorist groups roaming Gaza and Areas A and B east of the Green Line (EGL) must be disbanded and disarmed.
The current war to eliminate Hamas in Gaza should include a pathway to dismantle all the terrorist groups.
Whether the experiment of a Palestinian State has proven a terrible failure not to be repeated, or whether new models for Arab self-determination should be explored, the critical dynamic now is “security first.” The world must support a complete dismantling of the terrorist infrastructure in Palestinian territories. Plans for the “day after” that do not incorporate security first are doomed, regardless of approach.
“We are still in shock at the scope and magnitude of the violence. If words cannot express the pain we feel in witnessing such loss, I cannot fathom that of the families of the victims. My prayers for their comfort have kept me sleepless. What we have just witnessed is a hate crime against an already victimized community, and it violates our principles, both as Americans and as Muslims. I join the millions of Muslims in our country who are repulsed by such an affront to our or any faith.” – Nihad Awad, National Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
These were not the words of the head of CAIR after thousands of Palestinian Arabs invaded Israel and tortured and butchered 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians. It was his thoughts shared in an article by Time Magazine after a single Muslim man killed 49 people in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida in June, 2016.
When it came to the October 2023 sadistic killing of Jews, Awad shared on X/Twitter that the Israeli dead deserved their fate: “Palestinians have been experiencing ethnic cleansing by Israel for 75 years [from the founding of Israel in 1948]” and “A riot is the language of the unheard.”
The rape of Jewish women and burning families alive was seemingly not “an affront to our [Islamic] or any faith.” The shooting of Holocaust survivors was not a “hate crime against an already victimized community.” The young Jewish children taken hostage were not in his “prayers for their comfort.”
Leaders of CAIR see Zionists, including American Zionists and people who visit or work with Israel, as “enemies.”
Zahara Biloo, the San Francisco Executive Director of CAIR specifically called out “Hillel chapters on our campuses” and many Jewish groups. She denounced any normalization of interaction with “polite Zionists” whom she falsely claimed are inherently anti-Muslim. “I’m not going to sugarcoat that. They are your enemies,” which include anyone who argues for the continued existence of Israel, including in a two state solution.
CAIR strongly backed Biloo and said that it would “continue to proudly stand by Zahra and all American Muslim leaders who face smears and threats because they dare to express an opinion about Palestinian human rights,” which for CAIR means demanding the destruction of the Jewish State and confronting Zionists.
The leading American-Islamic organization has made clear that it believes that Jews and Zionists are inherently anti-Muslim and the State of Israel is an affront to Islam. For CAIR, Palestinian human rights demand the destruction of Israel, and the group will celebrate the demise of anyone who protects the Jewish State.
Note, for the 2021-2 Congressional election cycle, CAIR gave perfect scores to only a handful of politicians who supported all of its goals: Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA); Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI); Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY); and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). All members of the far-left.
Fisherman have long engaged in the act of chumming to attract large game fish. According to ioutdoor.com, “chumming means dumping bait or something into the waters to attract fish.” If one wants to attract sharks, “use a bloody fish. Sharks have a very keen sense of smell so that they could smell blood no matter how diluted it might be…. By tossing the sharks chum, you can keep them in the area for hours.”
Chumming the water with bloody bait to attract sharks and other large fish
Jew haters use a similar tactic to attract other antisemites.
Historically, many European and Middle Eastern communities fabricated blood libels in which they blamed Jews for certain crimes, such as the preposterous idea that Jews abduct non-Jewish children to use their blood to bake Passover matzah. The charges led Jew haters into the streets to slaughter and observe the murder of Jews for centuries.
There is another kind of chum which extends beyond the blood of non-Jews to draw out the Jew-haters, and that’s the blood of Jews themselves.
On October 7, 2023, Palestinian Arabs invaded Israel and brutally slaughtered 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and also abducted 240 people who were brought back into Gaza as captives, again, mostly civilians. The reactions of Jew haters around the world was immediate and grotesque.
The scent of Jewish blood was sharp in the neighboring Palestinian territories where 93% are antisemites, and they cheered and supported the murders. They were elated when Hamas promised to commit the atrocities again and again. Palestinian Arabs would elect Hamas to the presidency with a whopping 78% of the vote according to a December 2023 PCPSR poll, a huge jump from the previous poll three months earlier.
Israeli Jewish woman bound, raped and paraded through Gaza on October 7, 2023
The appalling celebration of the sadistic murder of Jews spanned the globe. Jew haters, like sharks, have a keen sense of smell and come out wherever Jewish blood is spilled, even thousands of miles away.
Professors from Cornell and Columbia in the United States stated how thrilled they were with the sadistic murder of Jews. In Sydney, Australia, hundreds of antisemites came out with chants to “gas the Jews.” In New York City’s Times Square, the Democratic Socialists of America organized a protest to support Hamas, which was attended by hundreds of people, some flashing swastikas. Iranian leaders welcomed the start of “the collapse of the Zionist regime and promises its imminent annihilation.” Iranians and other Muslims from around the world met in London to celebrate the attack.
This was before Israel launched any counter-offensive on Gaza.
The actual smell of Jewish blood is seemingly more intoxicating than the myth of Jews spilling non-Jewish blood. The fervor has pushed some people to demand an immediate ceasefire to keep Hamas intact so they can inflict such carnage again, to ultimately destroy the Jewish State and 45% of global Jewry.
The Jew-hatred frenzy will likely come to a community near you, spilling more Jewish blood. Such action will activate the run-of-the-mill non-shark Jew-haters who lack the acute sensitivity to join the carnage around the world.
The orgy of hatred has produced a vile intoxicated mob.
The vicious “cycle of violence” is no longer about bloody exchanges between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims. It is the odious demand for more Jewish blood as the antisemites become sated on the initial October carnage.
The quarterly Palestinian poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) came out in December 2023 and primarily focused on the October 7 Hamas attack and Israeli response. The findings echoed the poll results of the Arab World For Research and Development which found that West Bank Arabs were even more supportive of the Hamas attacks than Gazans (82% to 57%) with three-quarters overall approving the attack. Hamas’s popularity similarly rises in the hearts and minds of Palestinian Arabs.
The PCPSR poll also asked about terrorism as it relates to Jewish “settlers.” The October 7 Hamas attack was referred to as “armed struggle” six times in the poll, while “terrorism” was mentioned eight times, each connected to Jewish “settlers.”
That is the essence of Palestinian Arabs and their supporters today. They believe that ending the “occupation” and presence of “settlers” is a just cause, and the most effective way to achieve that goal is through armed combat. In the West Bank, 68% of Arabs now believe that “armed struggle” is the best means of “ending the occupation and building an independent state.” That figure is 56% in Gaza, where Palestinian Arabs already have self-determination.
This is a continuation of a trend that gained momentum one year ago, as West Bankers have “a greater confidence in the efficacy of armed struggle,” as described in a December 2022 PCPSR poll, and believe that Israel will soon cease to exist.
Curiously, few believe that ending “occupation” was the goal of the October 7 massacre. Most believe it was in response to “settler attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque and West Bank residents, and for the release of Palestinian prisoners.” Perhaps they marked the aims with more modest goals to prove the attack to ultimately be a success.
#FakeNews #JihadiFakeNews of Jews “storming” the Temple Mount
Hamas named the sadistic October 7 massacre the “al Aqsa Flood” as they attempt to purge Jews from the Temple Mount and Israel. They view the basic presence of Jews as a violation of the “sanctity” of Islamic holy places, both in Jerusalem and the entirety of the land.
For Palestinian Arabs, all Israeli Jews are “settlers,” both inside and outside the 1948 lines. The presence of Jews is “terrorism,” whether committing acts of violence or not. To address the matter, Muslims are engaged in jihad, an “armed struggle” to purge the land of the infidels.
According to PCPSR, “The overwhelming majority of [Palestinian Arab] respondents say that they have not seen videos from international or social media showing atrocities committed by Hamas members against Israeli civilians that day, such as the killing of women and children in their homes. Indeed, more than 90% believe that Hamas fighters did not commit the atrocities contained in these videos.“
If they did, would it matter? Would they imagine that it was Israeli and western propaganda made with artificial intelligence? Would they ascribe the actions to a handful of individuals and say that they do not speak for Islam? They believe their cause is just and will support (or ignore) any actions to achieve those aims.
There are two important take-aways from this: 1) some causes are manufactured (Jews storming al Aqsa) and the propaganda around it produces violence; and 2) the danger in believing that violence pays rewards is real.
Some quick thoughts on addressing these.
Combatting Jihadist Propaganda Around Al Aqsa
United Nations confirms that people of all faiths – including Jews – have a right to peacefully visit the Temple Mount / al Aqsa Compound in the Old City of Jerusalem
Israel’s Muslim allies, including Morocco, Egypt, Jordan and UAE, should visit the Temple Mount together with Israeli leaders in a show of solidarity and openness for each other
Ending Notion In The Efficacy of Violence
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres must clearly state and demand that Hamas perpetrators be brought to justice, something he has repeatedly failed to do, including after the October 7 massacre
Global support for Israel eliminating Hamas, a genocidal group with the most antisemitic foundational charter ever written, which has widespread Palestinian support. Palestinians must be redirected towards coexistence, not war
UNSG Guterres, Saudi Arabia and Israel’s Arab allies should state clearly that there is no “right of return” for Palestinian Arabs to Israel. Any future settlement will be in a new Palestinian State, hopefully finally ending the Arab quest to destroy the Jewish State
Palestinians refuse to acknowledge their own terrorism, regardless of its barbarity, and manufacture violence by Jews even when none exists. Ending the current fighting is a near-term goal which must include the foundation for ending future violence, or the current events will certainly be repeated.
On June 4, 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered a speech to the House of Commons after the successful evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk, France. It is famous for its ending lines “we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,” as shown remarkably in the movie Darkest Hour (2017). It is remembered as a call to arms and a pivotal turn for the people of England to shift from a demoralized retreat to a unifying rally to defeat the Nazis.
But there is more to Churchill’s famous speech, and potential lessons for Israel in the wake of the horrific attack by Palestinian Arab terrorists on October 7. It covered the narrative of the battle; rallying the home front for war; moving the battle from defensive to offensive; addressing a ‘fifth column’; preparing for a long war; and an appeal to other allies.
Churchill flashing a “V” for victory sign, 5 June 1943
The speech was around 3,800 words which dealt primarily with the battle in Europe and the evacuation of British soldiers who were surrounded by German troops. Churchill leaned into the situation with lots of detail, as in the era before the Internet, cellphones and Go Pros, Churchill was able to control the narrative to his countrymen.
He particularly focused on the air battle, even though the evacuation was by sea: “The enemy attacked on all sides with great strength and fierceness, and their main power, the power of their far more numerous Air Force, was thrown into the battle or else concentrated upon Dunkirk and the beaches.” He continued to lay out the picture of the skies above before the massive evacuation effort. “Meanwhile, the Royal Navy, with the willing help of countless merchant seamen, strained every nerve to embark the British and Allied troops; 220 light warships and 650 other vessels were engaged,” using statistics to give a sense of scale.
Roughly half-way through Churchill’s recounting of the battle, he began to debunk a counter-narrative he feared would be shared by those who assisted in the evacuation. “Many of our soldiers coming back have not seen the Air Force at work; they saw only the bombers which escaped its protective attack. They underrate its achievements. I have heard much talk of this; that is why I go out of my way to say this. I will tell you about it.” Churchill’s goal was to boost morale and give the British confidence in the nation’s ability to fight the Germans. “When we consider how much greater would be our advantage in defending the air above this Island against an overseas attack, I must say that I find in these facts a sure basis upon which practical and reassuring thoughts may rest. I will pay my tribute to these young airmen.”
After admitting to the losses incurred in the fight, Churchill directed his attention to the war effort at home: “How long it will be, how long it will last, depends upon the exertions which we make in this Island. An effort the like of which has never been seen in our records is now being made. Work is proceeding everywhere, night and day, Sundays and weekdays. Capital and Labor have cast aside their interests, rights, and customs and put them into the common stock,” reviewing the unity in fighting the terrible foreign foe.
Churchill would go on to discuss rumors of a German invasion of England and said “The whole question of home defense against invasion is, of course, powerfully affected by the fact that we have for the time being in this Island incomparably more powerful military forces than we have ever had at any moment in this war or the last. But this will not continue. We shall not be content with a defensive war. We have our duty to our Ally,” which was France’s battle against the common German foe.
Churchill then directed attention to German sympathizers. “We have found it necessary to take measures of increasing stringency, not only against enemy aliens and suspicious characters of other nationalities, but also against British subjects who may become a danger or a nuisance should the war be transported to the United Kingdom. I know there are a great many people affected by the orders which we have made who are the passionate enemies of Nazi Germany. I am very sorry for them, but we cannot, at the present time and under the present stress, draw all the distinctions which we should like to do. If parachute landings were attempted and fierce fighting attendant upon them followed, these unfortunate people would be far better out of the way, for their own sakes as well as for ours. There is, however, another class, for which I feel not the slightest sympathy. Parliament has given us the powers to put down Fifth Column activities with a strong hand, and we shall use those powers subject to the supervision and correction of the House, without the slightest hesitation until we are satisfied, and more than satisfied, that this malignancy in our midst has been effectively stamped out.”
While Churchill understood that Britain’s setting up internment camps for Germans in the UK – including many Jews who had escaped the Nazi regime – was an unfortunate matter which the pressure of war necessitated, he intended on using “a strong hand” against “this malignancy in our midst,” those in the UK who were effectively German agents.
Churchill concluded his speech that the UK should have the means to defend itself as well as come to the aid of its ally. “I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, 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. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty’s Government-every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation.” He noted that should the government and army fail in its war effort, it would hope that allies in the New World – the United States – would come to its aid. “we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old,” that is, the United States coming to the aid of England.
Churchill brilliantly readied his nation for war against an evil enemy.
Winston Churchill (right) and Herbert Samuel walking to the site of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, March 1921 (photo: Central Zionist Archives)
Over one year later, as Churchill learned the extent of the barbarity of the enemy, regarding Nazi atrocities against Jews. He called for finding justice for individuals: “It is quite clear that all concerned in this crime who may fall into our hands, including the people who only obeyed orders by carrying out the butcheries, should be put to death after their association with the murders has been proved.”
Churchill’s words echo in 2023 for the Jewish State.
Israel Post-October 7
Israel was terribly unprepared when its people were sadistically butchered on October 7 by Palestinian Arab terrorists. Not only were 1,200 people massacred and 240 taken hostage, it took the army a long time to respond to the attack. The powerful army failed miserably and needed to unite to fight back.
Israel had been bitterly divided for months before the attack regarding judicial reform which pit “Capital and Labor” against each other. The horrific 10/7 carnage brought everyone together to fight the common foe, as a speech by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu was not needed, as everyone saw the images and heard the news on phones in their pockets.
The Jewish State slowly formed a broad government to include military leaders to help prosecute the war against Hamas in Gaza, as well as prepare for possible other fronts, including against Hezbollah in Lebanon in the north, various terrorist groups in the east in Area A of the West Bank, towards the southeast from the Houthis in Yemen, and the main sponsor of all of them, the Islamic Republic of Iran in the northeast, which is on the verge of nuclear weapons capabilities.
The threats surrounding Israel are large and existential.
Despite the threats, Israel has not taken the course of the UK above nor of the United States after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, of setting up internment camps for people “who may become a danger or a nuisance,” such as 26% of the country which is non-Jewish. Fortunately, Israeli Arabs have not repeated their attacks on Israeli Jews as they did in May 2021. Hopefully that spectacle will never be necessary and there will be no need to confront “Fifth Column activities” inside Israel.
Churchill knew the enormity of the battle, as does Israel.
Immediately after the October 7, 2023 Massacre, Israel assembled a force of 350,000 troops to respond to Hamas, determined to destroy it. The Jewish State received support from its key ally, the United States, which quickly sent a strong naval presence off the coast of Lebanon in an effort to limit the Israeli battles to a single front in Gaza.
It appeared that Israel would not be left to fight its enemies alone.
But the United States has a deep rot, a “malignancy in our midst” to quote Churchill, of allies of Hamas who celebrated the rape of Israeli women and burning families alive under the banner of “any means necessary.” The Insidious Jihad in America is pressuring the Biden Administration in an election year to cave to the wave of Jew hatred, to leave Israel to fight Iran and its proxies alone.
Natan Sharansky, a famous Zionist Jew imprisoned in the Soviet Union who ultimately was freed, spoke (16:30) in Washington DC at a 300,000-person November 14 rally against antisemitism, for Israel and for a release of the hostages. He did not reserve his condemnation solely for Hamas but also American universities which celebrated the “liberation” of Gaza and slaughter of innocent Jews. He channeled Winston Churchill’s famous remarks and said (22:15) “We, together, will fight against those who try to give legitimacy to Hamas. We will fight for Israel. We will fight for every Jew. We will fight against antisemitism. We will fight for the values and against corruption of those values which are at the center of our Jewish identity and American identity.”
It was a speech by a man without portfolio, without an army. He called on the Jewish people to fight Hamas’s Willing Executioners in the halls of Congress, in university lecture halls and those storming the streets.
Natan Sharansky talking at November 14, 2023 DC rally against antisemitism (photo:FirstOneThrough)
A month later, President Biden gave Israel until the end of the year to end the war, even if Hamas remains functional and able to carry out the October 7 massacre again as it has promised to do, and even if hostages are still trapped in Gaza. It will test Israel’s resolve to continue to fight against the evil on its borders, “if necessary for years, if necessary alone.” It remains to be seen if the American government will similarly leave diaspora Jews alone in their fight against antisemitism, or put it down aggressively whether coming from the alt-right or the alt-left, the radical jihadists or Black antisemites.
The war against the existence of Israel in the Middle East has reared its head again, just like 1947, and against global Jewry as it did in the preceding decade. The prosecution of the war for the Jewish State is being led by the Israeli government. Who will lead the fight against global antisemitism remains frighteningly uncertain.
College is the first time that many young people live away from home. Young adults find new friends and community to experience learning and fun for several important formative years.
Alas, it is not always simple for Jews at universities.
Campus antisemitism has been a growing issue, and after the October 7 Hamas massacre, it has escalated and made Jewish students fear for their basic safety. Threats against students at Cornell, Cooper Union, New York University, Columbia and Hunter College are seemingly mentioned daily.
And that’s just in New York, home to the largest population of Jews outside of Israel.
As the current Gaza War is likely to go on for some time, it is likely that the tepid reaction of universities will enable more antisemitism on campuses, so this article is meant as a guide for how to ingest the latest incidents.
First Framework: 98% and 2% of Campuses with Jews
In the United States, there are roughly 5,300 colleges. Of those, roughly 100 have a Jewish presence of note, whether by number of Jewish students, percentage of Jews or those with a visibly Orthodox presence. That means that 98% of American colleges might have antisemitic incidents that do not actively harm Jews at that moment in time. While the toxicity of antisemitism spreading should not be overlooked, the antisemitism may go unnoticed and unreported.
The figures may hold true for other countries with large Jewish populations including Canada, United Kingdom and France. While there are many fewer universities there, it is likely that 90%-plus percentage of them have under-reported antisemitic occurrences.
Second Framework: The Three Groups of Antisemitic Actors
Antisemitism at universities have three principle actors: the alt-right, jihadists and the alt-left.
The alt-right and neo-Nazis were historically viewed as the classic antisemites. While the alt-right continues to taunt and attack Jews, they have a quiet presence thus far at the two percent of universities where most Jews attend. They have greater voices in the other 98% of campuses so that antisemitism is often unreported.
When White Supremacists marched at the University of Virginia in 2017, the world took notice. There wasn’t a need for the Hillel, which claims there are 1,000 Jews at UVA, to alert the press as everyone was shocked by the scale of the provocative march meant to intimidate the relatively small Jewish population and other minorities.
The jihadists have been gaining significant ground since the turn of the century. Led by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the pro-Hamas group has roughly 250 chapters around the United States, including almost all of the 2% schools which Jews attend including the large state universities (Florida, Michigan, Maryland, Indiana, Wisconsin), the City of New York/ State of New York and University of California school systems, as well as the Ivy League schools. Their presence on campus directly correlates to more antisemitic actions on campuses as shown by work done by the AMCHA Initiative.
In the current environment after the October 7 Hamas attack, they are a leading cause of anti-Jewish hostility on campus, and Jews are directly feeling the brunt of their extremism and hatred.
The third category of antisemites comes from the alt-left, such as groups associated with the Democratic Socialists of America. They are profoundly anti-Zionist, and have falsely labeled Israel as a “settler colonial state”, denying Jews their history and heritage in the holy land. Since the 2014/15 Black Lives Matter protests, socialists have bonded with the jihadists in coming for Jews and Zionists. Like the jihadists, they are found in almost school where Jews are located.
The cumulative effect is that one doesn’t hear much about campus antisemitism from the alt-right, especially during conflicts in the Middle East. If one hears about it at all, it will be from something major like the “United the Right” UVA march which included many people from outside the university.
In contrast, jihadists feel uncomfortably close with their daily confrontations with Jews and the spectacle is frightening.
The alt-left socialists feel even closer for progressive Jews. They belong to the same clubs and advocated for many of the same causes. To see them celebrating the murder and butchering of Jews is deeply hurtful and shocking.
Third Framework: The Three Levels at Universities
The third way to consider antisemitism is understanding the three tiers of a university: the institution, the teachers and the students.
Groups like SJP are made up of students and tend to be the most vocal actors on campuses. They stage die-ins, put on Israel Apartheid Weeks and are the ones generally responsible for vandalism. The university has little sway over them, other than the ability to not officially recognize them or allow them to hold events on campus grounds, or expel them if they go against rules of conduct.
Teachers are directly employed by the university so the institution has much greater influence on them. However, once a teacher gets tenure, it becomes very difficult to discipline them unless they do something egregious.
The institutions are businesses, whether they are not-for-profit or for-profit, public or private universities. They need funding, students, professors, accreditation, real estate and many other things to operate. As such, it is possible to impact their direction by donors and federal mandates.
Using these three lenses about universities, one can better evaluate the impact of campus antisemitism.
Examining Donors Via The Frameworks
Many wealthy Jewish university benefactors lashed out about the state of antisemitism on campuses. Marc Rowan, Bill Ackman, Leon Cooperman, David Magerman and others stated that they will no longer send universities millions of dollars as they have in the past.
It matters much less than they think. Not only do the universities have billions of dollars already in endowments, but the monies those benefactors spent were on hospitals and center for the arts and to put their names on buildings. The Jews gave money at the institutional level.
That is in sharp contrast to the Gulf states including Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Foreign forces gave over $10 billion to American universities at every level including the student and professor levels. At the institutional level, they spent money opening up campuses in their kingdoms to legitimize their autocratic regimes.
At the student level, the governments sent tens of thousands of students onto American campuses, changing the nature of the schools. The universities appreciate the fully-funded tuitions and the ability to appear diverse and international. In the 2015/6 school year, over 61,000 Saudi students attended American schools. That represented 0.2% of the entire population of Saudi Arabia to a single country. By way of comparison, the ENTIRE American students abroad cohort all over the world is around 162,000, or 0.05% of the U.S. population. Imagine 650,000 American college students all going to Brazil for college, and you get the absurdity of what transpired on American campuses with petrodollars.
The Gulf money also funded professors and chairs of departments. In July 2000, the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, donated $2.5 million to the Harvard Divinity School to endow the Sheik Zayed Al Nahyan Professorship in Islamic Religious Studies. Within a short period of time, the Zayed Center became a noxious fountain of anti-Semitic screed complete with Holocaust denials and blood libels. It took the non-profit group The David Project and a student at the Harvard Divinity School, Rachel Fish, to loudly protest the donation and Center itself.
But the damage is often already done. With an application of two students and approval of a professor, a new SJP chapter comes to campus. The AMCHA Initiative has shown that campuses with five or more professors who support the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) of Israel and has an anti-Zionist group like SJP on campus, is over seven times more likely to have antisemitic incidents.
These professors actively push the antisemitic narrative to Decolonize Palestine, framing Jews as interlopers and the Jewish State as a European Colonial State. It is inherently antisemitic, as it negates Jewish heritage and history. The professors claim that it is worthy of debate and administrations remain silent.
Ramifications
Historically, Jews focused on choosing schools with a good Jewish campus life. If there was a Hillel, AEPi Jewish fraternity, Chabad or OU-JLIC couple on campus, students and parents felt comfortable with a supportive environment. Walking through campus and seeing Jewish names on buildings like Stern and Lauder gave people comfort that they would not confront antisemitism.
That is simply not the case.
The correct questions are whether the university has an SJP or Jewish Voice for Peace on campus. Does the university take millions of dollars from Gulf states? Are there tenured professors with a history of antisemitic remarks like Columbia’s Joseph Massad? Does it promote the antisemitic libel that Jews have no history in the holy land and that it is noble to “normalize and globalize Hamas” the way Brown University suggests?
Action Items
The jihadists have focused on American universities for twenty years, and the alt-left has long had a hold on campus life but only bonded with the jihadists since 2014/5. It will take time to undo the damage that has been done.
But there are several things which can be effectuated to start the change. For those who don’t want or cannot wait, consider Yeshiva University or Touro which are Jewish institutions with no jihadist groups and very few members of the alt-left.
Get universities to stop taking money from toxic regimes. Qatar openly supports the terrorist group Hamas. Saudi Arabia beheads minors. There must be some human rights bright lines which should block universities from taking money. At a minimum, there should be a cap of say $5 million over any five year period for any foreign government or agency to pour money into American schools.
Label SJP a hate group and kick them off campus. With seven times more antisemitic incidents with their presence, the groups should be blocked from school recognition.
Place a morality clause in all contracts. If misgendering someone can be cause for dismissal, then certainly celebrating the slaughter of babies and raping of women should result in immediate firings.
Get the Biden Administration to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism as it relates to Title VI for universities. The administration already approved it as the best working definition of antisemitism but has not applied it to Title VI which would pull government funding to universities that allow rampant anti-Zionism and antisemitism.
Expel foreign students involved in hate crimes. Universities like MIT have been loathe to suspend foreign students as it would result in their deportation. American Jews should not be forced to endure visiting students’ antisemitism because the university wants to keep the foreign nation’s tuition funnel flowing.
Support Jewish and Israel groups. OU-JLIC, Hillel and other groups need active support, as do external groups which help out university students like StandWithUs and Students Supporting Israel. The infrastructure must be continuously enhanced for a strong Jewish campus life.
Get benefactors to fund Jewish scholarships and Jewish and Israel studies departments. Just like the Gulf states, Jewish benefactors should fund scholarships for Jews to their alma maters as well as professors focused on Jewish studies.
Write about the problem. Penning letters to the school administrators, posting on social media, and telling members of congress and governors about the horrific situation on campuses will help drive change. Write letters to the media that they must cover campus antisemitism more regularly and honestly.
Campus antisemitism is at alarming levels. You can help.
The riders of the sugar storm went to Brooklyn again this year, focused on Flatbush. We started at Schreiber’s which is usually at the end of the trip, because we picked up an important taster who had just flown in from Israel into JFK Airport after ten days of volunteering after the horrible October 7 massacre. We hoped the sugar would alleviate the jet lag and stress.
All of the bakeries we tried were good, as this was our fifth year going to Brooklyn, and have eliminated those bakeries which did not score at least a “6” in the overall ranking in the past. We were sugared out after five locations, so did not make it to some favorites like Ostrovitsky’s.
Schreiber’s Homestyle Bakery, 3008 Avenue M
Per tradition, we immediately picked up Schreiber’s lace cookies which are amazing. We grabbed dairy cheese sufganiyot from the back of the store to bring to a niece who said they were amazing. We sampled the pareve selection which were just mediocre. The pistachio one only had pistachios on the outside but no pistachio flavor inside. The dough was too heavy without a lot of flavor. Overall a 6.
Pistachio donut from Schreiber’s
As we debated our scores outside of the bakery (note the filling flavor started as a ‘3’ and settled on a ‘5’ after everyone’s input), a local came over and asked our thoughts on the top bakeries in the neighborhood. It seems that other people are also doing the crawl.
Schreiber’s bakery kicked off the scoring for Hanukkah 2023
Kaff Bakery 1906 Avenue M
Kaff was a new addition to the crawl. We were impressed that several sefaradi people were picking up jelly donuts, as their bakeries do not have a tradition of making the holiday treats. Each one said that Kaff was a favorite but we were disappointed. While the lotus donut was packed with filling, it was not smooth and creamy, and was overly sweet (for me). Fellow travelers loved them which gave a more balanced overall score of ‘7’.
Kaff Bakery had a nice selection of donuts
Presser’s Kosher Bagels and Bakery, 1720 Ave. M
Presser’s donuts candidly did not look at all appetizing and we didn’t purchase any. Instead we tried the chocolate horn which had tasty chocolate but the dough was not as flaky as Weiss’s bakery.
Patis Bakery, 1716 Ave. M
Patis was almost completely sold out by the time we arrived around 11:00am. They had one variety – almond hazelnut – which was fantastic. Very buttery soft dough, good hazelnut filling and tasty toasted almonds on top. An ‘8.5’.
Almond hazelnut donut from Patis, Hanukkah 2023
Taste of Israel, 1322 Avenue M
Taste of Israel requires a pre-order some days in advance at (347) 554-8133. We highly recommend it. It was a new addition to the crawl and tied for top marks with Sesame. The dough is actually better than Sesame in terms of fluffiness and flavor, which is not always easy because it needs to contain the heavy filling. TOI mastered it. While the presentation is not as pretty as some of the other bakeries, the overall taste was terrific even when we ate them later at night. We went for Oreo and Halva; they also have lotus, caramel, custard, jelly and rosemary. A ‘9’.
Taste of Israel donuts ranked highest for dough, and also good flavor
Sesame – Flatbush, 1540 Coney Island Ave
Sesame did not disappoint. Unfortunately, the store has developed a reputation for excellence so is a bit packed but perhaps that’s sharing the joy of the holiday. We heard that the dairy varieties (marked with blue labels) were out of this world but mostly purchased pareve to bring to people for dinner. The pareve (marked with green labels) peanut butter was outstanding – a 10. White chocolate, which I do not usually like was very tasty. Pistachio, as always, was terrific as was the lemon. Sesame puts flavor into the fondant on top of the donut for a doubly amazing experience. We bought dozens to bring back to share with people. A solid ‘9’.
Sesame bakery donuts, Hanukkah 2023
Below is the overall scorecard for each bakery. We hope you enjoy them and Happy Chanuka!
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has been very vocal and negative about the Jewish State of Israel since its founding. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has written that “key CAIR leaders often traffic in antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric.” The ADL specifically called out Zahra Billoo, CAIR’s San Francisco Bay Area Executive Director, who called Jewish Zionist institutions in America “enemies”, as well as Nihad Awad, CAIR’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, who claims that “Zionist organizations” are “enemies of the Muslim community” and that “Zionist organizations make up the core of the Islamophobia network in the United States.”
On October 7, well before Israel responded to the sadistic massacre by the Palestinian Arab political-terrorist groups in Israel, Awad took to X/Twitter and defended the savagery.
He first wrote that “Palestinians have been experiencing ethnic cleansing by Israel for 75 years [from the founding of Israel in 1948],” seemingly calling for Palestinians to return the favor to ethnically cleanse Jews from the land.
He followed that tweet with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr “A riot is the language of the unheard,” minimizing the atrocity of killing 1,200 people – mostly civilians – as a “riot” under the name of a peaceful activist.
CAIR was originally part of President Biden’s May 2023 National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism. It took until yesterday, December 7, for the Biden Administration to remove the organization, as Awad has continued to argue that Palestinians have a right to “self defense” and that he was “happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land.” It is also possible that Israel found evidence of ties between CAIR and HAMAS in materials the IDF captured in Gaza.
The US government may have also read the October 2023 George Washington University’s Program on Extremism paper about the Hamas Networks in America. CAIR was featured prominently.
CAIR and Students for Justice in Palestine are two groups pushing Muslim antisemitism into the United States’ mainstream. They must be combatted with the same vigor as other antisemitic groups.
First One Through 