Tag Archives: Israel

US’s Weak Condemnation Of Palestinian Terror

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Amidst the Jewish holiday of Passover, Palestinian terrorists launched attacks on civilians in Israel, killing three and injuring many others.

Italian tourist Alessandro Parini, killed while visiting Israel by Israeli Arab

The United States offered tepid comments about the heinous killings.

To start, the official statement came from Vendat Patel. Never heard of him? He’s the Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, quite a few levels down from the Secretary of State Antony Blinken or the American Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides.

The full statement issued by this deputy spokesperson was as follows:

“The United States strongly condemns today’s terrorist attacks in the West Bank and Tel Aviv. We extend our deepest condolences to the victims’ families and loved ones, and wish a full recovery to the injured. The three horrific attacks today, in which three were killed and at least eight others wounded, affected citizens of Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The targeting of innocent civilians of any nationality is unconscionable. The United States stands with the government and people of Israel. We are in close contact with our Israeli partners and reaffirm our enduring commitment to their security.”

Compare the terse statement about the killing of Israeli civilians to the one that the United Nations Security Council issued about the terrorism in Afghanistan on March 28. That statement “condemned in the strongest terms the continued heinous terrorist attacks targeting civilians.” It importantly made clear that: “The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.  They urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard. The members of the Security Council reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed. They reaffirmed the need for all States to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other obligations under international law, including international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.“

Neither the United States nor the United Nations make the same obvious comments for Israel, that it – together with “all States” – “need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors” of terrorism accountable and brought to justice. Even when Israel effectively brings perpetrators to justice, the UN and US pressure Israel to let the backers “of these reprehensible acts of terrorism” off the hook.

The latest civilians murdered by Arabs in Israel include Italian and British nationals. Will Italy and the United Kingdom continue to allow the Palestinian Authority to pay the families of the terrorists in its popular “pay-to-slay” scheme?

It is a vile double standard which cheapens the lives of civilians in Israel, and simultaneously blesses and encourages Palestinian Arab terrorism.

Related articles:

The US State Department Does Not Want Israel to Fight Terrorism

Select Support in Fighting Terrorism from the US State Department

US State Department Comments on Terrorism in Israel and the Territories

CNN Sanitizes Palestinian Car Ramming Terrorism

Palestinian Post-paid Terrorism

Letter To Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY16) About Palestinian Support For Attacks

The United Nations Ignores Radical Muslim Violent Extremism and Terrorism

Praising and Defending Terrorism Against Jews

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

Amid The Terror, The United Nations Once Again Protects Palestinians

Letter To Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY16) About Palestinian Support For Attacks

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Email Rep. Jamaal Bowman
Mount Vernon Office (914) 371-9220, White Plains office  (914) 323-5550, D.C. office (202) 225-2464

Rep. Bowman,

I understand that you are co-authoring a letter to President Biden “to investigate whether Israel is using U.S. weapons to commit human rights abuses against Palestinians.” In the current draft of the letter made available by Jewish Currents, you made reference to recent attacks in the West Bank as well as a claim that the “Israeli government’s anti-democratic mission to dismantle the rule of law… is attempting to destroy the independent Israeli judiciary.” You also claimed that there is an Israeli “military siege of Gaza.”

Allow me to give you information that you may have missed or decided to ignore.

The Palestinians poll themselves every quarter, something they have been doing since 2000. The latest poll came out on March 14, 20231 and details frightening sentiments of Palestinian Arabs about their Jewish neighbors:

  • 68% support the formation of armed groups, such as the Lions’ Den, and 87% believe the Palestinian Authority (PA) does not have the right to arrest members of these groups
  • 71% support the Palestinian point blank shooting of two Israeli brothers who drove into the town of of Huwara
  • 61% of Palestinians support armed attacks against Israeli civilians inside of Israel
  • 57% support the return to an “armed intifada”
  • Support for a two state solution stands at just 27%
  • If presidential elections were held, 52% would vote for the leader of the political-terrorist group Hamas

Those are the latest figures of the Palestinians polling themselves. It is because of that rejection of coexistence and preference for violent attacks that Israel launched a daytime raid into Nablus on February 22, to stop an upcoming terrorist attack. The Israeli defensive action killed nine terrorists and saved an untold number of lives – which your letter disgracefully omitted. Are you in favor of allowing terrorists to target and kill innocent Jewish civilians in Israel?

Even according to the biased United Nations reports, West Bank Arabs committed more attacks2 than Israeli Jews living in Israeli territory of Area C in every month of 2022.

As for terrorist enclave of Gaza,3 the situation is more horrific. The territory is controlled by a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, Hamas.4 The March 2023 poll figures show that 36% and 31% “strongly support” and “support” armed attacks against Jews in Israel, respectively. A frightening 71% of Gazans support armed groups like the Lions’ Den and Jenin Battalion which do not take orders from the PA (question 40). Your inversion of this terrorist enclave to being the victims of an “Israeli military siege” is outrageous.

As to the assertion that Israel is “pushing repressive, anti-democratic policies,” let me remind you that Israel held five in elections in the past four years. This in a region that doesn’t hold any, including the PA, where the president’s four-year term ran out in 2009, fourteen years ago. Further, after each Israeli election, there was a peaceful transition of power, more than can be said for these United States.

Currently hundreds of thousands of citizens are peacefully protesting in the streets of Israel for months, in sharp contrast to the bloodshed and civil wars in neighboring countries.5 And both side of the Israeli protests are in favor of putting checks-and-balances for the government and judiciary.

Curiously, your letter was shockingly devoid of any mention of the PA continuing its “pay-to-slay” policy, in which it pays the families of Arab terrorists who kill Jews. It failed to mention the many schools and public squares are named after Arab terrorists who kill Jews.6 It omitted mentioning Palestinian law which calls for capital punishment or a life of hard labor for any Arab who sells land to a Jew.7

Your refusing to acknowledge the radical jihadi violence currently prevalent in Palestinian society – as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran march towards nuclear weapons – while simultaneously calling for the U.S. to consider pulling back military support for the only Jewish State, is alarming.

Rep. Bowman, anti-Semitism is brewing in your district, in your state and your country. At the same time, more Israeli Jews have already been killed by Palestinian terrorism since President Biden took office than in the full four years of the prior American administration.

Amidst such backdrop, you’ve decided that America should open an investigation of the Jewish State and show its enemies that the sole liberal democracy8 in the Middle East is losing its main supporter.

Not satisfied with penning such letter with Senator Bernie Sanders, you are seemingly agitating to get other members of congress to join your assault.

Congressman, you defeated Rep. Eliot Engel, one of the authors of the Taylor Force Act which restricted funds to the Palestinian Authority as long as it continued its “martyr payments.” Are you now using your power to strip Israel of funding for its defensive operations? Did congress not only lose a defender of human rights in the Middle East, but did it gain a member which tramples on them?

There are indeed “gross violations of human rights” happening now. And you are aiding and abetting the perpetrators.

  1. Palestinian Center for Policy and Public Research March 2023 https://www.pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Poll%2087%20English%20full%20text%20March2023.pdf
  2. https://firstonethrough.wordpress.com/2022/11/10/un-doesnt-like-proportionate-israeli-reaction-to-arab-terror-either/
  3. Terrorist enclaves like Gaza are dangerous according to the U.S. Department of Defense https://www.gao.gov/assets/a126365.html
  4. List of U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organizations https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations/
  5. Israeli democracy in the middle of a failed Arab Spring https://firstonethrough.wordpress.com/2023/03/18/israel-teaches-the-world-about-democracy/
  6. Palestinian schools and squares named for terrorists https://firstonethrough.wordpress.com/2021/03/18/palestinians-celebrate-their-female-terrorists/
  7. Palestinians die in PA custody for selling land to Jews https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-man-convicted-of-selling-land-to-israeli-jews-dies-in-pa-custody/
  8. Israel is a liberal country https://firstonethrough.wordpress.com/2015/03/26/israel-the-liberal-country-of-the-middle-east/

#PrimaryBowman

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Letter to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) On Conditioning Aid To Israel

You Cannot Be Progressive And Pro-Palestinian

Why Blockade Gaza

Excerpt of Hamas Charter to Share with Your Elected Officials

Letter to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) On Conditioning Aid To Israel

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Dear Senator,

I have read with alarm that you are considering making aid to Israel “conditional,” something no American president has ever done, including President Biden. The reasons for doing so are abundant, and have never been more obvious.

Sen. Chris Murphy (photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts.)

Security

Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran has threatened to wipe Israel off the map. This leading state sponsor of terrorism is on the very cusp of nuclear weapons capability, a fact very well known to you and the United States government which has been alternatively attempting to stop the terrorist regime from gaining weapons of mass destruction, and paving the way to a legal complete manufacturing infrastructure. 

Lebanon. One of Iran’s terrorist arms is Hezbollah, just north of Israel in Lebanon. The terrorist group is overseeing a country in the middle of a complete freefall, with its currency collapsing by over 90% since the beginning of they year. The Lebanese are becoming extremely anxious, with a populace now ranked as the second most unhappy country in the world, just ahead of Afghanistan. The terrorists of Hezbollah have an estimated 150,000 missiles and mortars targeting Israel, and there is no better way to distract the angry Lebanese than to start a war against the Jewish State.

Syria. Another leading state sponsor of terrorism is still led by a mass murderer who has killed hundreds of thousands of his own citizens. The country remains in an official state of war with Israel, as it has been since the reestablishment of the Jewish State. While Israel was effective at stopping Syria from building a nuclear weapons compound which the Islamic state was doing with the help of North Korea (yet another state sponsor of terrorism), Syria continues to get supplied with arms and intelligence from Iran and Russia.

West Bank Palestinian Arabs. The Arabs in the West Bank have never been more blood-thirsty than they are at present. According to a December 2022 Palestinian poll, 46% support killing Jewish civilians inside of Israel (Gazans’ support was yet higher at 57%). Several new terrorist groups have recently emerged in the West Bank including the Lion’s Den and Jenin Battalion which have a 70% approval rating according to a March 2023 Palestinian poll, with the groups shooting and planning attacks against Israelis. A similarly frightening high percentage of Palestinians support the point blank shooting of two Jewish brothers who drove into an Arab town a few weeks ago.

Gazans. The political-terrorist group Hamas, continues to rule Gaza. The group is committed to never making peace with Israel and was elected to a significant majority of the Palestinian parliament with the most anti-Semitic charter ever written. If new presidential elections were held, Hamas would win according to the March 2023 poll (52% for Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh to 36% for Fatah’s Mahmoud Abbas), and assume control of the Palestinian Authority to rule both the West Bank and Gaza.

The idea of making aid to Israel conditional in such backdrop is not only dangerous in hurting Israel’s military readiness, but serves as an invitation to the Jewish State’s hostile neighbors that it is standing alone and vulnerable.

Palestinian Thoughts on the “Peace Process”

And for what? Why subject Israel to the evil forces that seek its destruction? Are the radical jihadist values listed above closer aligned to the United States?

You mentioned that Israel is not actively engaged in pursuing a two state solution. Have you looked at the facts and polls related to Palestinians?

According to the March 2023 PCPRS poll, “support for the concept of the two-state solution stands at 27% and opposition stands at 71%.” Three times as many Palestinian oppose a two-state solution as support it.

Their preference is violence. The same poll found that “58% supported return to armed confrontations and intifada,” and 77% want Abbas to resign. The Palestinians are not interested in peace or negotiations led by a corrupt and inept leader, but want to go to war with Israel.

Exactly how is Israel supposed to push forward two states with such Palestinian counterparty? Israel has shown its readiness to make peace with many Arab countries willing to engage, and has put forward numerous solutions through the decades to the Palestinian Arabs. The current situation offers no opportunity for fruitful negotiations.

Jewish Homes East of The 1949 Armistice Lines (E49AL)

Senator, you seem to believe that the presence of Jews obliterates the chance for a two state solution. On February 15, 2023 you said “The Israeli government’s move to advance nearly 10,000 new settlement homes and legalize nine outposts in the West Bank is deeply concerning. Unilateral decisions like these make a negotiated two-state future more and more difficult to achieve and undercut prospects for a just and lasting peace with the Palestinians.” A couple of weeks later you doubled down and said “I worry that we are at a moment in which we are watching a future Palestinian state be obliterated by the pace of settlements, by the legalization of outposts.”

If Israel is thriving with over 20% of its population coming from non-Jews including Arabs and Druze, and the United Nations continues to demand that Israel accept millions of additional Arabs into the country, why are 10,000 new homes for Jews an obstacle for a “lasting peace with the Palestinians”? Is it because the Palestinians want an ethnically-cleansed, pure Arab country devoid of Jews? If that is their goal, how can anyone believe that there will ever be peace with people who hold such noxious anti-Semitic views?

Senator, your comments would simply be viewed as irresponsible if they were uttered from the mouths of radical members of the House of Representatives. Coming from a senator who sits on the foreign affairs committee is a dangerous invitation for brutal violent dictators and terrorist groups to wage war on the Jewish State.

Conditioning aid to Israel to pressure the Jewish State to bend to the will of anti-Semitic Arabs is not the mark of a “pragmatic progressive.” It is a product of a delusional mindset chasing a fantasy that Palestinians do not want (in regards to two states) and Israelis cannot risk.

Sincerely,

Members of First One Through

CONTACT Sen. Christopher Murphy (D-CT)

Other member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-DE)
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA)
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Sen. Cory A. Booker (D-NJ)
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI)
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
Sen. James Risch (R-ID)
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT)
Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
Sen. Todd Young (R-IN)
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)

Related articles:

The Israeli-Arab Conflict Is About The Presence of Jews, Not the “1967 Borders”

UN Lies About Palestinians Favoring Two States

Israel: Security in a Small Country

On Defenses: Provocative and Legal / Unprovocative and Illegal

The Green Line

Palestinian Arabs Do Not Want Negotiations or a Two State Solution

The Left-Wing’s Two State Solution: 1.5 States for Arabs, 0.5 for Jews

Israel Teaches The World About Democracy

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The streets of Israel are teeming with hundreds of thousands of people protesting the proposed changes to the country’s judicial system. It is a global lesson in democracy.

An Education About The Supreme Court

The current protests are not about the price of cottage cheese (there actually was such a protest in Israel!), raising the age of retirement (as in France), or about changes to police enforcement (as in the USA), but about how the country’s Supreme Court is elected and functions. Something seemingly so nuanced and esoteric as to be beyond the interest of the masses, yet they’ve come out to protest for weeks and months to argue for compromise.

The proposed five changes are seemingly small but the impact is potentially large. As people delve into the details, they are getting a civics lesson about the checks-and-balances that maintain a healthy democracy.

Elections

The bedrock of democracy is the rights of citizens to elect their leaders. Israel is so focused on the will of its citizens, it remarkably held five elections in four years! It sounds preposterous, especially in the middle of the illiberal Middle East which has leaders for life with either no or sham elections.

Israel obviously did not do this intentionally, as governments are intended to sit for several years. However, the country’s parliamentary system enables coalition members to withdraw and thereby dissolve its majority position. In slim majority coalitions, a single upset member of parliament can bring about a collapse of the majority and calls for a new election. The Prime Minister can do little about it, other than negotiate, beg and plead to keep his coalition together.

Israeli citizens watch this theater in real time, and get to choose the next chess pieces to place on the board. It is a thoroughly engaged, active – and yes, oftentimes dysfunctional – democracy. As Winston Churchill said “No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

Despite the flux and hysteria, the people of Israel voted in peace and the transition of power happened without violence.

Checks and Balances

The Kohelet Policy Forum which drafted the proposed changes to the country’s judicial process, is just as sensitive to the checks-and-balances of power as those protesting the changes. Those for and against the rules do not want any branch of the government to have unlimited control of society. An election won is not a certificate to overhaul every aspect of society and civil protection, and unelected judges chosen by unelected officials should not be able to trump laws and the government willy-nilly.

Both the protestors and those backing the judicial overhaul are debating a crucial principle of creating and maintaining a healthy society.

Majority Rule And Protection Of Minorities

The democratic process of choosing a government via elections is meant to empower the will of the majority of voters. However, it is a liberal democracy that enshrines protections of the minority through laws.

Israel has many groups who could be considered minority groups. Israeli Arab citizens number about 1.6 million and about 2 million including those with permanent residency status. There are about 160,000 Ethiopian Jews and 1.3 million ultra Orthodox Jews. They got to vote and make their concerns heard, and also count on the legal system to protect their basic rights.

Which is part of the interesting dynamic in Israel. The country does not have a constitution and relies on Basic Laws for fundamental rights and protections. People are appreciating the role of the parliament and judiciary in such a situation, and considering whether enacting a constitution would be beneficial.

Peaceful Protests

Israelis of all walks of life have made their feelings known. Professional lawyers, doctors and bankers rallied in squares. Laborers and workers blocked highways. Military personnel refused to serve. CEOs took their monies out of the country.

All peacefully.

Tens of thousands of Israelis protest against the government’s judicial overhaul moves, in Tel Aviv on March 4, 2023. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)

This is in sharp contrast to the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ protests in neighboring Arab countries.

In Egypt, 846 people were killed in protests, which saw the head of the country get thrown out and put in jail, followed by an election in which the people chose a radical Islamist, who was in short order thrown out of office by the military.

Reporters run for cover during clashes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters of Egypt’s ousted president Mohamed Morsi, and police.(photo: MOSAAB EL-SHAMY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

In Syria, the protests led to a brutal crackdown by its leader with over 2,500 people killed in the first months. It soon turned into a full civil war with over 500,000 killed and many millions displaced internally in Syria and as refugees abroad.

Syria men carrying babies in Aleppo, Syria in 2017 (photo: AFP)

In Yemen, 2,000 civilians were killed in the first few months of their protests, which became a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia once the ruler fled the country. The estimate of the dead now stands at 150,000. It has become the world’s worst failed state.

The violence continued throughout the Arab world, including in Tunisia (estimated 338 dead), Sudan (over 200), Bahrain (120) and Saudi Arabia (24). In Libya, the United States helped the rebels kill its leader, and the resulting tumult has led to as many as 20,000 killed. The country is now a haven for terrorist groups including ISIS and al Qaeda.

In the middle of this Middle Eastern firestorm of anger and bloodshed, the Jewish State has sit ins, fighting for the rule of law while protecting and believing in it.

What can be more democratic than: open, fair and repeated elections; the smooth transition of power from one government to the next; ensuring checks-and-balances in the government; and the ability to protest peacefully to those in power?

Israel is giving a basic civics lesson to the entire world about the importance and mechanics of proper courts of justice, the seventh of the Noahide Laws. It should be proud.

Related articles:

Israel, the Liberal Country of the Middle East

Nakba 2: The Victory of a Democracy

In Israel, the Winner is… Democracy

The Baker and Government Doth Protest Too Much

Liberal’s Protest Bubble Harms Democracy

It’s the Democracy, Stupid

Open Letter To Politicians On Al Aqsa Mosque

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Dear elected official,

I know that you have been following matters in the Middle East and likely have access to materials and insiders that many do not. You may have concluded that while the Arab-Israeli Conflict is complicated, the thorniest issue is Jerusalem, and in that tinderbox the most sensitive is the al Aqsa Mosque / Jewish Temple Mount.

I reach that assessment based on your support of a position that the ban of Jews praying on the holy site should continue, a position known as the “status quo.”

It is likely based on comments from the leader of the Palestinian Authority who said that Israel is “playing with fire” if it allows Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, something he called allowing “settlers to desecrate holy sites.”

The leader of Hamas made similar comments, that there would be a “bloodbath” if Israel makes changes to the rights of Jews. He warned that “the action of the occupation targeting the Islamic and the Christian Holy sites in Jerusalem and Palestine, and specifically the Al Aqsa Mosque, brings about the angry Palestinian reaction.”

To avoid such bloodshed, you possibly decided to overlook the basic human rights of Jews to pray at their holiest site.

You may have convinced yourself that the only Jewish visitors who want to pray at the site are right-wing extremist “illegal settlers”, to further rationalize your position.

So let me ask you, do only Christian fanatics visit and pray at the Vatican?

Do you understand that Judaism is a particular religion, with no desire to convert or dominate anyone? That while Christians and Muslims fought crusades for over one hundred years over the holy land, and expelled the others, and converted their mosques to churches and churches to mosques, Israel did no such thing when it took control of the Temple Mount in 1967? Instead, it handed administrative control of the site to the Jordanian Waqf.

Judaism’s particularism protects al Aqsa.

Jerusalem’s Arabs who have been living under Israeli administration for decades have slowly internalized that Israel has no plans on the al Aqsa Mosque. In a December 2022 poll of Jerusalem’s Arabs, they showed that they have a greater fear of accessing the holy site if eastern Jerusalem was under Palestinian sovereignty (63%) than Israeli (41%).

This year is the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Article 18 states “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” Article 2 underscores the point that this relates to religious rights in disputed land: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.”

This clearly includes the rights for Jews from around the world to pray at their holiest site of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.”

So it is with the status quo ban on Jews. It is morally wrong and a disgrace, and the world has blindly let it continue.

I ask that you stop facilitating the trampling of the fundamental human rights of Jews and vote to reverse the anti-Semitic “status quo” edict, and condemn the incendiary remarks and false accusations which block Jews from praying peacefully at their holiest site in their holiest city in the holy land.

Sincerely,

Readers of First One Through

Contact details, click to email:

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)

Senate Foreign Relations Committee:

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-DE)
Sen. Christopher Murphy (D-CT)
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA)
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Sen. Cory A. Booker (D-NJ)
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI)
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
Sen. James Risch (R-ID)
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT)
Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
Sen. Todd Young (R-IN)
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)

House Foreign Affairs Committee

Related articles:

Pros And Cons Of Muslims Considering Jewish Holy Sites As Sacred Also

Active and Reactive Provocations: Charlie Hebdo and the Temple Mount

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

Apostasy

Tolerance at the Temple Mount

Republican and Democratic Politicians Discuss Israel’s Latest Fight

Coexistence Runs Through UAE, Anti-Semitism Through UN

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

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

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

Abrahamic Family Complex in Abu Dhabi, UAE

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

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

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

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

Related articles:

The United Nations and Holy Sites in the Holy Land

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

The Arab Spring Blooms in the UAE

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

The Inalienable Right of Jews to Pray on The Temple Mount

The U.N. Openly Declares Opposition To Jews in Jerusalem

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The United Nations has summarized its thoughts about Jews in Jerusalem, and it’s appalling.

On February 12, 2023, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sent a message to a conference held in Cairo, Egypt called “Supporting the City of Jerusalem and its Population.” By the term “its Population,” the leader of the UN made clear he only supports the Arab Muslim population, not the Jewish one. He admitted as much in his opening statement about the “challenges faced by the Palestinian population in Jerusalem.” Presumably, the term Palestinian population refers to those Arabs who have not opted to take Israeli citizenship which has been offered to all law-abiding Arabs in the city.

It clearly didn’t mean Jews.

Guterres continued:

“Jerusalem — Al-Quds is not only a treasured home for so many — it also holds a unique place in the hearts of millions of Muslims, Jews and Christians the world over.“

Jerusalem is ONLY the holiest city for Jews. Minimizing the Jewish connection to the city after an opening comment showing unique concern for the challenges of non-Jews, reveals the jaundiced mindset of the global leader.

“As we have seen time and again, what happens in Jerusalem reverberates globally — and tensions, incitement and violence often spill into wider instability.“

Jews have been a majority in Jerusalem since the 1860s. However, the Jordanian Army ethnically cleansed the Jews out of the eastern portion of Jerusalem including the entirety of the the Old City, and forbade Jews from even visiting their holy sites from 1949 to 1967. The world remained completely silent about the abuse to Jewish human rights, even in the shadow of the European genocide of Jews.

Now, Jews once again control the eastern portion of Jerusalem after Israel defended itself from the attacking Jordanian army in 1967. The current Jewish presence sickens the anti-Semitic Arab Muslims who shout that “al Aqsa is in danger.” Outrageously, the United Nations echoes their sentiments, further inflaming the region.

“It is therefore imperative that all parties exercise restraint and refrain from provocations, inflammatory actions and rhetoric.  I am very concerned by the unilateral initiatives that we have seen in recent weeks.“

Refraining “from provocations, inflammatory actions and rhetoric” makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, the head of the U.N. has a perverse idea of what that constitutes, as can be seen in his next comment.

“The position of the United Nations is clear:  The status of Jerusalem cannot be altered by unilateral actions, including settlement activities in occupied East Jerusalem; it can only be resolved through negotiations between the parties.“

Perhaps the U.N. does not accept Israel’s annexation of the eastern portion of Jerusalem, as the global body had sought that Greater Jerusalem and Greater Bethlehem be held under an international regime in the 1947 Partition Plan. But the Jordanians drastically altered the character of the city when it expelled every Jew, destroyed every synagogue, banned Jews from entering the city, illegally annexed it and granted any non-Jew citizenship. Reversing the anti-Semitic Jordanian actions is not altering the city with “unilateral actions, including settlement activities”, but reestablishing the Jewish presence in the Jewish holy city that had been unilaterally destroyed by the anti-Semitic Jordanian regime.

While Israel tries to establish a final resolution to the Arab-Israel conflict, it is absurd to demand that the city be frozen in time – only as it relates to Jews and to that period when Jews were ethnically cleansed. It is the capital city of Israel with an enormous demand for housing. How can the U.N. advocate for Arab housing in the city but not for Jewish homes?

“Jerusalem’s demographic and historical character must be preserved — and the status quo at the Holy Sites must be upheld, in line with the special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.“

If Jerusalem has been 75% Jewish in 2020, 2000, 1980, 1960 or 1940, is that the fixed percentage of the demographic character of the city that must be preserved? No city in the world has a fixed demographic character. To suggest that the demographic and historical character should relate to the eighteen years that Jordan banned the presence of Jews would be an endorsement of ethnic cleansing.

Which is what Guterres seems to have done, in calling for the anti-Semitic Jordanians to have a special role “at the Holy Sites.” The Jordanian Waqf ONLY has a special role in regards to Muslim holy sites such as the al Aqsa Mosque. It has no special role on the overall Temple Mount which is a Jewish holy site. In falsely giving the Waqf a greater role than was agreed upon in the 1994 Peace Agreement between Israel and Jordan, the U.N. chief is inflaming the situation and going directly against his own words: ignoring an agreement reached between the parties.

“The United Nations remains committed to help Israelis and Palestinians chart a credible path forward:  Towards an end of the occupation; towards two States living side by side with Jerusalem as the capital of both; towards lasting security, peace and dignity for all.  Thank you.  Shukran.“

All of Guterres’ comments show a disregard for Jewish Israelis, so the call out of helping Israelis is a polite lie thinly spread on a mountain of scorn.

  • There is no “occupation” in Jerusalem. It was never Palestinian nor was it ever intended to be part of an Arab state, but part of an international “corpus separatum.”
  • The Arabs have flatly rejected a two State solution in every poll and every peace negotiation.
  • If the parties are to negotiate a solution between themselves, then declaring the outcome of Jerusalem being a shared capital undermines the very principle of negotiation. The parties themselves will determine what they find acceptable.
  • Note that Israel has already advanced the sharing of Corpus Separatum, when it handed Bethlehem to the Palestinian Authority in 1996. The sharing of the holy basin has already been accomplished.
  • If the U.N. cared about security, it would support Israel in fighting terror, which it does for every country in the world other than Israel.
  • If the U.N. cared about Jewish dignity, it would INSIST upon Jewish prayer rights on the Jewish Temple Mount, not calling for banning Jews.

The head of the United Nations called for banning Jews from the Old City of Jerusalem and denying them basic human rights and dignity to pray at their holiest location. He has sadly become an ugly tool of radical jihadists, and an enemy of Jews.

The U.N.’s desire to impose sharia law in Jerusalem offers no justice nor dignity for Jews. The agency has broken its social contract with the Jewish State, and its heartless shell is but a conduit for overt anti-Semitism.

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Jerusalem, Israel. One and Only

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Jerusalem Population Facts

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The Green Line Through Jerusalem

“Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”

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The Jews of Jerusalem In Situ

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I call BS: You Never Recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital

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Jerusalem, and a review of the sad state of divided capitals in the world

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

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

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

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

Jews Were a Targeted Minority

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

That is in sharp contrast to Jews.

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

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

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

Israel is The Jewish Homeland

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

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

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

The Need for Sovereignty

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

Not so for Jews in Israel.

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

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

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

First One Through

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

Related articles:

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The Lies Conflating the Holocaust and The Promised Land

The Jewish Holy Land

A Core Tenet of Zionism Is Combatting Anti-Semitism

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Aliyah to Israel (music by The Maccabeats)

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Praising and Defending Terrorism Against Jews

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Hussein Khaled Qaraqe, a 31 year old Palestinian Arab, rammed his car into a crowd of Israeli Jews on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath in the Jews’ holiest city of Jerusalem on February 10, 2023. He killed a six year old and a 20 year old man who had just gotten married, and injured several others.

While the world was outraged and strongly condemned the attack, including the United States which issued a statement that the “deliberate targeting of innocent civilians is repugnant and unconscionable,” Palestinians celebrated and defended the killings of Jewish civilians.

Hamas, the popular political-terrorist group which governs Gaza and holds a majority of Palestinian parliament, issued a statement under the banner “Hamas mourns Palestinian killed by Israeli occupation troops in occupied Jerusalem.” The article wrote “The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas mourns Palestinian resistance fighter Hussein Qaraqe’, 31, who was killed by the Israeli occupation forces near the colonial settlement of ‘Ramat’ in occupied Jerusalem on Friday. Hamas reiterates that the Palestinian people will continue to resist the Israeli occupation forces and colonial settlers’ crimes against the defenseless citizens of the occupied West Bank and the racist policy of home demolition.”

>> Recall that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) compared Israel and the United States to this repugnant and racist genocidal regime, and every Democrat – including Jews – in the House of Representatives sought to protect her from being ousted from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Wafa, the official website of the Palestinian Authority under the leadership of Fatah, ran a story inverting the facts with the headline “Israeli settlers kill a Palestinian driver in occupied Jerusalem.” The article wrote “A Palestinian young man was shot dead today by Israeli settlers at Nabi Samuel junction in occupied Jerusalem, according to local sources. The family of Hussein Khaled Qaraqe, 30, said Israeli settlers opened gunfire at their son while he was driving his vehicle at the junction, critically injuring him. The young man was pronounced dead a few of minutes later.”

Ground News captured the overall Palestinian sentiment of the attack “Palestinians Celebrate Murder of Israelis in Terrorist Attack, Media Headlines Call Victims ‘Settlers’“

Palestinian sites featured pictures of the killer but not the Jewish victims

Outside of the Palestinians, several Muslim sites sought to inflame the situation.

Palm Strategic Initiatives wrote “Two Israeli settlers were reported killed and five others injured during a ramming attack in occupied Jerusalem. Israeli media reported that Palestinian youth Hussein Qaraqe’, 31, carried out a run-over attack in Ramout Israeli settlement in occupied Jerusalem.” Neither the six year Jewish victim nor the 20-year old was described in any fashion, while the 31-year old terrorist was described as a “youth.”

Al Mayadeen wrote that “Israeli media claim two illegal Israeli settlers were killed and five others were injured in a ramming operation into a bus stop in Al-Quds,” making Jewish civilians walking on the street the actual perpetrator of doing something “illegal.”

Hezbollah’s Al Manar wrote “Car Ramming Attack in Al-Quds City Kills Two Zionist Settlers, Critically Injures Seven Others.” The article led “A car ramming attack, carried out by a Palestinian who descends from Al-Issawiya town, left two Zionist settlers dead and critically injured seven others in Al-Quds City. Hussein Karaka, 31, rammed into a bus stop at the entrance to the Ramot neighborhood and hit 11 settlers, according to media reports.”

The left-wing Israeli media headed by Haaretz tried to explain away the terrorism. It ran a headline “Jerusalem Attacker Was Released From Psychiatric Ward Day Before Car Ramming, Family Says.” It pushed the narrative that the Palestinian terrorist was not really a perpetrator of violence as much as a victim of mental illness.

What has happened to the world?

It is illegal under international law to incite violence which the Palestinian leadership does openly. It is also illegal to finance terrorism, which the global community does in providing funds to the PA and Hamas.

It should perhaps not be shocking in this environment that a member of Congress normalized a genocidal jihadist regime, but shouldn’t we be appalled that Jews are defending this Congresswoman?

The killing of civilians is absolutely “repugnant and unconscionable,” and it is past time to hold the defenders of such atrocities to account.

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

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Everyone understands that politics is a messy business. One has to pretend that the actors in the dance are more powerful, honest and deserving of respect, especially when being hosted. But that doesn’t make the theater attractive, nor does it bring about peace.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the President-for-Life Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, Area A, on January 31, 2023, just days after a series of attacks left many Israeli civilians and Palestinian terrorists dead. After a single sentence of welcome, Abbas launched a venomous rant against Israel with accusations of “changing the identity of Jerusalem and violating historical status quo, and the violation of sanctity of Al Aqsa Mosque.” He added that “our people will not accept the continuation of the occupation forever, and the regional security will not be strengthened by violating the sanctity of the holy sites.”

Blinken then responded.

After acknowledging the host and expressing condolences for Palestinian CIVILIANS who have been killed, he offered: “Palestinians and Israelis alike are experiencing growing insecurity, growing fear in their homes, in their communities, in their places of worship.”

Seven Jews had just been slaughtered outside of their synagogue the week before by a Palestinian gunman. The following day, a Palestinian youth shot a Jewish father and son walking to services on the Sabbath.

Jews fear for their physical well-being and safety as they pray amidst Arabs who want to ban them from their holiest city, and are killing Jews to drive them out of Jerusalem.

Among Palestinians, the “fear” is having Jews live in Jerusalem, visit their holiest site on the Temple Mount and pray there openly.

How are these two things remotely equivalent? How did the United States make such an outrageous smear, and endorse the Palestinian Arab narrative that Jews should be banned from praying at their holiest site with opposing “disruptions to the historic status quo of the holy sites”?

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken visited the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas (photo: Majdi Mohammed, New York Times)

Blinken said that the United States will “work toward the goal of Palestinians and Israelis enjoying equal measures of democracy, of opportunity, of dignity in their lives.” But there is no dignity for Jews without achieving the basic human right to pray at their holiest location. There is no equal measure of democracy when Palestinians demand a country free of any Jews.

Jews are scared for their lives when they go to pray, while Arabs are outraged by the physical presence of Jews. That’s not an equivalence of a “growing fear in their places of worship,” but the basic feature of jihadi anti-Semitic dementia. The U.S. State Department excusing and endorsing such Palestinian racist worldview will not resolve the tension in the region.

Related articles:

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Does Biden Support A Palestinian Army And Jewish Prayer On The Temple Mount

The Inalienable Right of Jews to Pray on The Temple Mount

Dignity for Israel: Jewish Prayer on the Temple Mount

The Parameters of Palestinian Dignity