Palestinians Seek Mercy For Being a Menace

Posted on July 20, 2021 by First.One.Through

Palestinian Arabs are like the kid who kills his parents and then asks the court for mercy because he is an orphan.

Here are a few examples:

The Security Barrier which Palestinian Arabs call an “Apartheid Wall.” Once upon a time there was no separation barrier between Israel and the West Bank. But the Arabs launched a ferocious wave of terrorism beginning in September 2000 killing and maiming hundreds of people. By 2002, Israel decided it was imperative to erect a mix of fencing and concrete walls to stop the flow of Arab jihadi terrorists from entering Israel. By 2005, the number of terrorist attacks dropped significantly due to the barrier. The Palestinians hate the wall and blame Israel for it, even though it was constructed because of their genocidal actions.

*Section of security barrier erected to keep Palestinian terrorists from killing Israeli civilians*

The Gaza Blockade which Palestinian Arabs and supporters refer to as “the World’s Largest Open Air Prison.“ In 2006, Palestinians elected the terrorist group Hamas to 58% of their parliament. Hamas routed the rival Fatah party from Gaza the following year and took over ruling the strip. As Hamas’s charter calls for the destruction of Israel and its history of terrorist attacks, the Jewish State imposed a blockade of Gaza to keep Hamas from importing weapons. The terrorist-political group has still done its utmost to wage war against Israel with missiles, underground tunnels, arson balloons and more. Despite the genocidal intent and actions, Israel still allows goods to flow in and out of Gaza through managed ports, as well as electricity to flow into the area. The Palestinians complain that the blockade is illegal even though investigations concluded that it is warranted due to Hamas’s genocidal actions and stated intentions.

Israeli Soldiers Protecting Jews on the Temple Mount. Palestinians and their supporters complain that Israeli troops harass Muslim worshipers and “storm” the al Aqsa Compound. The reality is that Muslim worshipers have specifically targeted Jewish visitors to the site for years with taunts and pelting them with rocks, necessitating the Israeli security detail.

Palestinians blame Israel for the “Nakba” in 1948. Jews moved to the holy land at six to seven times the rate of Muslims during the Ottoman period as well as since the Balfour Declaration. But since the Ottomans left Palestine, Arabs have rioted and done everything in their power to stop Jews from entering the Jewish holy land, including riots, terrorism and trying to destroy the Jewish State at its rebirth in 1948. Palestinians mourn losing the civil war they initiated and then pretend that the number of Arabs in Israel and in Israeli and Palestinian territories hasn’t skyrocketed since then, with outrageous claims of “ethnic cleansing.”

The “Occupation.” While Zionists approved the proposed United Nations Partition Plan in 1947, the Arabs unanimously rejected it and went to war. The Arabs continued warring many more times in attempts to destroy Israel but the result was losing land, lives and dignity. Palestinian leadership continued to refuse Israeli peace offers, even in 2000 and 2008, opting instead for war. The fact that Israel has not annexed all of the lands in the hopes of one day making peace in an action that no nation in the world would ever make is remarkable. Yet anti-Zionists invert the situation and blame Israel for holding out the prospect of land-for-enduring peace, rather than blame Palestinian Arabs for constantly going to war and refusing coexistence.

Jews buying land via third parties. Palestinian Arabs and their anti-Zionist supporters describe Jews buying land in eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank in “shadowy transactions” in a libelous attempt to make them appear as sneaky and crooked Jews “nibbling Arab land.” The reality is that the Palestinian Authority has anti-Semitic laws which call for the death penalty for any Arab who sells land to a Jew, so they have to conduct real estate transactions via third parties or the Arabs would get killed. Read the stories of Issam Akel, Ahmed Salama or Ezra Nawi and then ponder how Jews attempting to do a normal activity like buying homes for their families are portrayed in vile fashion because of anti-Semitic Palestinian laws.

All around the world, going on a plane requires arriving at the airport hours in advance, going through long security lines, removing shoes and belts, and being scanned in a prophylactic system to prevent death and mayhem because of the actions of jihadi extremists twenty years ago. Israel has similarly instituted security measures to protect lives after years of jihadi wars and terrorism.

The TSA, airport screening, the security barrier and Gaza blockade are not forms of collective punishment but systems put in place to protect society from the all too real Islamic extremism and terrorism.

Related First One Through articles:

Cause and Effect: Making Gaza

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What do you Recognize in the Palestinians?

The Disproportionate Defenses of Israel and the Palestinian Authority

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Jerusalem, Israel. One and Only

Posted on July 13, 2021 by First.One.Through

Judaism is the only religion which is tied to a specific land, the land of Israel.

Judaism created the very notion of “promised land,” not as an aspirational dream as commonly used today, but as an actual piece of land passed as an inheritance for generations.

Only Jews consider the Jewish Temple Mount in Jerusalem as their holiest location.

Jews are the only people who pray facing Jerusalem, regardless of where they are.

Only Jews are commanded to visit Jerusalem three times per year.

*The Old City of Jerusalem including the Jewish Temple Mount during Passover*

Jerusalem is the most mentioned city in the Hebrew bible.

Jerusalem has been the focal point of Judaism for over 3,000 years.

Israel is the only country whose national anthem is all about its capital city.

Jews have been the largest group of residents in Jerusalem continuously since the 1860’s. There is no other capital where Jews are the majority.

Israel is the only Jewish State.

Israel is also the only country:

which is not recognized by dozens of countries at the United Nations
whose capital city is not recognized by the majority of the members of the UN
which is singled out as a routine part of the UN’s Human Rights Council
where Jewish and non-Jewish residents in the eastern part of the capital are attributed different names of “settler” and “resident” in the non-Jewish world

Jerusalem and Israel are unique and special to Jews. The passion of its lovers and haters regarding the exceptional Jewish connection to both says more about their overall attitudes towards Jews than the locations themselves.

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The anthem of Israel is Jerusalem

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Zionism is Justice

Posted on July 4, 2021 by First.One.Through

Progressive and conservative people around the world have different interpretations of justice.

For progressives, justice is achieved by enabling people who have been marginalized to succeed. It seeks to even the playing field by affording those at the edges some advantages to address systemic roadblocks which kept them down for so long. Justice demands reform in various areas beyond economy and law, to include healthcare and the environment.

Conservatives view justice through a narrower lens of tradition and law. They appreciate order and security, and upholding historic truths. Justice demands a system which rewards or punishes risk and investment. It requires uneven outcomes in order to spur overall growth.

Zionism speaks justice to both.

Liberals rallied to Zionism after the Holocaust of the Jews in Europe. They saw systemic anti-Semitism commit a genocide of millions of European Jews in the 1940’s and then watched the Muslim world expunge its Jewry from 1948 through the 1970’s. A home where Jews could be safe and self-governing was clearly needed in the creation and building up of the Jewish State.

Conservatives were some of the earliest Zionists – even pre-dating the first Zionist Congress in 1897 – and continue to be strong supporters. They appreciate Jews’ 3,300 year-history in the land of Israel, and understand that “the promised land” is a religious term uniquely meant for Jews about that Jewish holy land.

Today, liberals see Israel as the most liberal country in the entire region, while conservatives understand the need for the small country to maintain a strong military in the face of hostile neighbors.

Progressives are amazed that a small new country was able to absorb immigrants fleeing persecution from dozens of diverse countries including: Morocco, Russia, Argentina, Uruguay, France, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Ethiopia, Ukraine and Yemen. There is no country in the world that has such a high percentage of immigrants coming into the country – virtually penniless – from so many lands. None.

Conservatives are amazed at the stability and application of the law in Israel. While other countries in the region have killed hundreds of thousands in wars, the strong Israeli army has kept its wars very short, minimizing death tolls. While the authoritarian leaders of neighboring countries stay in power for decades, Israel holds genuine elections and prosecutes its leaders, sometimes sending former prime ministers to prison.

People from across the political spectrum may not know some statistics about Israel but aren’t surprised to hear them. For example, Israel is the only religious country which has more tourists each year from a different religion (the Jewish State has more Christian tourists than any other religious group; other religious countries like Denmark have mostly Christian visitors; Iran, mostly Muslim visitors). Some facts may surprise them, such as the fact that the Arab population in Jerusalem has gone up by 3.4 times since 1980 when Israel declared the city as its eternal capital, compared to a rise of only 1.9 times for the Jewish population.

Both progressives and conservatives marvel at the religious freedoms in the only Jewish State. Muslims may wear hijabs (banned in France), build minarets near mosques (banned in Switzerland) and have halal meat (banned in the Scandinavian countries). Anyone of any faith can become prime minister in Israel (only Christians can lead Greece, only Muslims in Syria). Israel even helped the Mormons build a church in Jerusalem! and the Baha’i have a major temple in Haifa (the faith is banned in Qatar).

Liberals love that Israel is a green country, leading the world in recycling plastic. It was the first country in the Middle East to have wind farms and a bike sharing program. It also has a universal healthcare system for every citizen and permanent resident. Meanwhile, conservatives love that the Jewish State has a thriving free market built on capitalism. It has more companies listed on Nasdaq than any other country except for China (a country with a population 155 times as large).

Israel has strived to build a country that incorporates freedom, justice and fairness in an open, secure and vibrant multi-cultural society, in the heart of a turbulent and extremist neighborhood.

When Israel declared itself an independent state in 1948, it called for justice instinctively understood by both progressives and conservatives:

“THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

*David Ben Gurion signing the Declaration of Independence with Rabbi Yehuda Leib Hacohen in Tel Aviv, May 14, 1948 (photo: Hans Pinn/GPO)*

Israel was designed as a particular Jewish State, focused on Jewish immigration and a vision of peace based on the Jewish bible, but also with “complete equality of social and political rights to all inhabitants irrespective of religion.” The country’s foundational principles stressed both the particular and universal in a unique and bold ambition for justice for all: a space for the most persecuted minority in the world, and a philosophy of justice based on history, tradition, truth and fairness.

Progressive and conservative people around the world have different interpretations of justice, yet both see their visions realized in Israel.

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Anti-Semitism Spikes Because Israel-Palestine is a Religious Battle

Posted on June 28, 2021 by First.One.Through

The spike in anti-Semitism right after the latest skirmish between the Palestinian political-terrorist group Hamas and Israel seemingly caught many people off guard even though the same thing happened in 2014. The surprise is rooted in the delusion that the conflict is between two ethnic groups (Arabs and Jews), when in fact it is a religious war between Muslims and Jews, much like the crusader wars between Christians and Muslims centuries ago. The religious battles in the holy land quickly ignite anti-Semitism globally, especially when holy sites are involved.

Sovereignty: Islamic Ottomans versus Zionist Jews

Various peoples have ventured through the holy land over thousands of years, as the small strip of land is the only corridor connecting Africa on one hand, and Europe and Asia on the other. Different races, religions and ethnicities came and went with sovereignty falling under different regimes.

From 1517 to 1917, the Ottoman Turks ruled the region as part of its vast empire. The Ottomans were Islamic and gave preference to members of its faith. Early in its rule, Ottomans kicked Jews off of the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest location, and relegated them to a small part of the western supporting wall of the Temple Mount. That area, the Kotel, has since become the stand-in for Jews for their sacred spot. Similarly, the Islamists forbade Jews from entering the Cave of the Jewish Patriarchs and Matriarchs in Hebron.

When the British and French defeated the Ottomans in World War I, they divided the empire into distinct mandates which would ultimately become various countries including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Israel. Upon announcing that the Jews would get to reestablish their homeland in the Balfour Declaration which became codified in international law in the 1920 San Remo Agreement and 1922 Mandate of Palestine, the Muslim Arab world went berserk. It was one thing for the far-away, non-Arab Ottoman regime to rule Palestine, but at least they were Muslims. It was an insult to Islamic pride to have the land ruled by Jews.

Goodbye Jewish Neighbors

Once the notion of Jewish sovereignty was introduced, the basic presence of Jews became a problem.

Muslim Arabs slaughtered Hebron’s Jews in 1929, making the British feel that the removal of Jews from the city was the right course of action rather than punishing the murderers. The British would fold to Muslim Arab anti-Semitism again after their multi-year riots from 1936 to 1939, and instituted the White Paper which forbade the Jews fleeing Nazi Europe to enter Palestine, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Jews.

During World War II, the Mufti of Jerusalem met frequently with Hitler and other Nazi leaders to conspire against the Jews, making sure they were killed and could not flee to Palestine.

*Telegram from Nazi Heinrich Himmler to Islamic Mufti of Jerusalem on the anniversary of*
*the Balfour Declaration talking about “the battle against world Jewry.”*

After the war, in the shadow of the Holocaust, Muslim nations routed Jews from their lands, with roughly one million Jews fleeing Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Yemen and elsewhere. These were not Zionists but Jewish neighbors who had lived for hundreds of years in Muslim lands. They were attacked simply for sharing the faith with Jews in Israel.

Whether in Europe, the Middle East or North Africa, Christians and Muslims trounced the local Jewish communities.

Toxic Islamic Anti-Semitism

While the Christian world rethought systemic anti-Semitism in the Second Vatican Council of 1965, the anti-Semitic toxicity level continued to spread among Muslims, especially after their defeat in 1967 when they went from smug warriors about to finish off the Jews a mere generation after the Holocaust, to embarrassed losers in just a week.

The 1988 Hamas Charter remains the most anti-Semitic foundational document of any political party ever written. It combines the vileness of Hitler’s Mein Kampf with the Russian forgery Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It blames Jews for starting all wars for profit, controlling the media and global resources as well as “uncleanliness, vileness and evils.” The document calls upon Muslims around the world to fight the Jews and kill them in a messianic jihad. “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it…. Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious…. the Palestinian problem is a religious problem, and should be dealt with on this basis…. Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people.” The conflict is anchored through the lens of a religious war against Jews and Judaism.

The charter makes clear that the issue is not 1967 borders or even 1948 borders, but that “struggle against the Zionist invaders… goes back to 1939,” the beginning of the Holocaust. For Hamas, the core of the issue is that Jews survived the Holocaust and came to Palestine. The root of the current hastags #Hitlerwasright has nothing to do with a property dispute in Sheikh Jarrah in eastern Jerusalem, but that the Jews continue to exist.

Regular Islamic Anti-Semitism

Not all Muslims believe that all Jews are sinister and must be punished for re-assuming sovereignty of the holy land as they had thousands of years ago. Many are garden-variety anti-Semites.

In 2005, the Palestinians voted a man who wrote his doctoral thesis on Holocaust denial, Mahmoud Abbas, as their new president. The following year they voted the political-terrorist group Hamas to 58% of the parliament. In 2014, the ADL conducted a poll which found that 93% of Palestinian Arabs – almost every single person polled – held anti-Semitic views.

Beyond the holy land, a 2015 ADL poll found that Muslims around the world were two to five times more likely to be anti-Semites than Christians in the same country.

When Palestinians poll themselves they continue to favor Hamas. A June 2021 poll found that 59% would vote for Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas for president. They are overwhelmingly in favor of attacking Jewish Israeli civilians inside Israel.

As further proof that the dispute is between religions and not ethnic groups, Hamas’s biggest sponsors are not Arab countries but non-Arab Islamic countries of Turkey and Iran (which has threatened to wipe Israel off the map). Religion, not ethnicity, drives the conflict.

The Sensitivity of Religious Sites

While Muslim Arabs object to Jews living anywhere in what they perceive as an Islamic waqf, the sensitivity is heightened around religious sites. The Muslim world calls for “days of rage” when anything happens around Jerusalem and especially the al Aqsa Mosque. Even during peaceful times, Muslim Mourabitoun harass Jewish visitors to the Jewish Temple Mount, while they simultaneously leave Christian visitors alone.

The Indignity of the “Jewish State”

Underscoring the religious dimension of the conflict is the refusal of Palestinian Authority President to accept Israel as the “Jewish State,” even though doing so costs nothing in terms of the main desires of Palestinian Arabs which seek sovereignty and to move into neighborhoods where ancestors once lived. Abbas would be willing to forgo an independent Muslim Arab state if he has to simultaneously acknowledge Jewish sovereignty in Israel.

The Broader World’s Embrace of Muslim Anti-Semitism

The non-Muslim world has accepted many of the Muslim charges, seemingly re-connecting with its own historic toxic anti-Semitism.

Only Jewish Israelis moving east of the 1949 Armistice Lines are labeled with the unique term “settlers,” while Muslim Israeli Arabs moving to eastern Jerusalem or other parts of the West Bank are simply called “Palestinians.” Airbnb has one policy for Jews renting homes in the West Bank and another for non-Jewish neighbors renting out their homes. Europe seeks to have distinct labels for products coming from Jewish businesses in the West Bank and a different one for Muslim businesses. The dividing line is not whether the owner is Israeli or Palestinian but whether the Israeli is Jewish or Muslim.

The examples go on.

The two-state solution has been long been marketed as creating sovereign entities for two ethnic groups – Jews and Arabs – but that has always been a myth. The Arabs already have dozens of countries and Palestinian Arabs were content being part of Muslim Arab Jordan from 1949 to 1967 and the Muslim non-Arab Ottoman Empire from 1517 to 1917. The conflict stems from the massive Muslim world’s distaste for the single small Jewish state. The Islamists proposed solution is ideally to wipe the Jewish State off the map. Failing that, making the country exceptionally small, without control of any religious sites, and converted into a bi-national (non-Jewish) state is the most they could accept.

The “Palestinian-Israeli” or “Arab-Israeli” Conflict is actually the “Muslim-Jewish Conflict over the Holy Land.” It is therefore no surprise that flare-ups in Israel rooted in noxious Palestinian Muslim anti-Semitism should ignite the same vile reactions against local Jews around the world, led by regional Muslim fanatics and abetted by other willing anti-Semites.

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Netanyahu’s Positions Are Not Leaving

Posted on June 14, 2021 by First.One.Through

Benjamin Netanyahu lost his role as Israel’s Prime Minister over this past June weekend. He served as the longest running head of Israel, and oversaw the country’s emergence as a leading force for stability and democracy in the turbulent Middle East.

*Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in May 2021. (Photo by Sebastian Scheiner / POO)*L / AFP)

Israeli politics have principally been shaped by four regional realities: The 2000-2004 Two Percent War/ Second Intifada; the “Arab Spring”; the dangerous aspirations of Iran; and the demographics of the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel. It is with that backdrop that one must assess why Israel elected the same politician over-and-again in a vigorous democracy, and what future governments of Israel will look like.

The 2000-2004 Two Percent War/ Second Intifada
and Hamas 2006 and 2007

The Israel-Palestinian conflict was scheduled to reach its conclusion in September 2000 at the five-year anniversary of the Oslo Accords. Rather than accept less than all of his stated goals, the president of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, opted to launch a murderous campaign against Israelis. The “Second Intifada” or Two Percent War watched repeated attacks of Palestinian Arabs blowing up buses and pizza stores to deliberately kill women and children. Only with the construction of the separation barrier was Israel able to stop the Palestinian terrorism.

Hawkish Ariel Sharon, who headed the Likud Party (and later, Kadima) was elected to head the government several times, in March 2001, February 2003 and November 2005, as Israelis internalized that Palestinians would rather slaughter Israelis than make peace. When Palestinians later elected the political-terrorist group Hamas to a majority of the Palestinian parliament in 2006 and watched it take over Gaza in 2007, Israelis understood that land-for-peace was in fact land-for-terror. Israelis clearly saw reality despite cataracts of hope, and elected a leader they thought had a firm grasp of the intentions of Palestinian Arabs.

After Sharon’s debacle in leaving Gaza in 2005 and drift into a coma, it was time for Netanyahu to make his comeback as head of the Likud Party. He assumed the Prime Minister role as head of Likud in March 2009.

The Arab Spring 2011-

The Muslim Arab world has long been ruled with an iron hand by monarchies which lived rich lives while their populations lived in abject poverty. In late 2010, the Arab populations had had enough. Riots to oust leaders sprung up throughout the region including in Tunisia, Yemen, Libya, Egypt, Syria and Bahrain. In some countries, leaders were ousted while in others – like Syria – the leadership committed war crimes against its own citizenry to remain in power.

How much the thriving economy and democracy of Israel, right in the heart of the region, inspired the popular Arab revolts in the region will be debated. However, what was abundantly clear to the entire world, was that the Arab world was at war with itself, and Israel was a beacon of stability in a vicious neighborhood.

Israelis understood this. They watched countries around them implode while their economy skyrocketed. They re-elected Netanyahu in 2013 as he offered humanitarian aid to victims of the Syrian Civil War, despite the two countries being officially at war.

Iranian Nuclear Ambitions and Sponsorship of Terrorism

Iran has been listed on the U.S. State Department as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1984. The Islamic regime has repeatedly stated since at least 2005, that Israel should be wiped from the map, and it has taken various steps to make that happen.

Iran funds Hezbollah in Lebanon (went to war with Israel in 2006) and various Palestinian Arab terrorist groups in Gaza (went to war with Israel in 2008-9, 2012 and 2014). It also assists in the creation of an advanced military platform in Syria (2018-).

And over the past decade, it has advanced its own nuclear weapons program.

The promotion of terrorist groups is horrible enough and forces Israel into military confrontations on multiple fronts. But nuclear weapons in the hands of such a government is completely unacceptable. Not only to every Israeli but to various Arab countries in the region including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Netanyahu capitalized on the collective fear of a nuclear Iran and struck the “Abraham Accords” normalization agreements with Bahrain, the UAE, Sudan and Morocco. More countries will likely follow.

The Israeli street was thrilled with Netanyahu’s peace agreements and aggressively combatting Iran’s nuclear ambitions both militarily and politically.

The Demographics of Haredis

There is a common misperception of what a typical Israeli looks like. To read the news, one would think that they are all White-looking Jews like Netanyahu. In fact, the majority of Israeli Jews are from Arab countries and are as Brown as the Israeli non-Jewish population which stands at roughly 25% of the country. In all, White Israeli Jews make up roughly 20-25% of the 9 million citizens.

Within both the European-looking and Arab-looking Jewish population, there is a rapidly growing ultra-Orthodox population, called Haredim. This ultra-Orthodox group now numbers roughly 1.2 million people, or 13% of the country. They have many more children than the non-Haredi Israelis (4.2% annual growth rate versus 1.4%) and their youth account for 58% of the population (compared to 30% for non-Haredi).

In short, they are the future of Israel, should current trends continue.

Netanyahu actively courted their support in his various election wins. While the ultra-Orthodox typically voted for their own parties (Shas and United Torah Judaism), they aligned with Likud to form governing coalitions, as Netanyahu promised them funding for their yeshivas and accommodations for army service.

Netanyahu may no longer be the Israeli Prime Minister but his Likud party trounced all other political parties with 30 seats compared to second place Yesh Atid with 17. More so, the backdrop of Palestinian Arabs unwilling to compromise for peace, Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the rise of ultra-Orthodox community make his positions – if not a comeback of his person – likely to remain.

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Rep. Ritchie Torres Doesn’t Want To Be the Only Progressive Pro-Israel Unicorn

Posted on June 10, 2021 by First.One.Through

Freshman Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY) whose South Bronx district is the poorest in the nation, came up to Westchester shortly after a mini-war between Gaza and Israel and a spike in anti-Semitism in June 2021. He spoke passionately to the crowd of 100 about both topics.

*Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) talking to a crowd in Westchester*

The Afro-Latino gay congressman made clear that he strongly objected to the direction of many progressive politicians in actively defaming Israel, in what he called the terrible “Corbynization of progressive politics,” after the British Labour Party leader who frequently attacked the Jewish State and was often accused of anti-Semitism.

Torres noted that the various smears against Israel are patently untrue. He railed against the charge that Israel is “an apartheid state” where Arabs have more rights than in many neighboring Arab countries. He said the claim that Israel is committing a “genocide” against Arabs is absurd when the Arab population in Israel has skyrocketed. To label Israel with such charges is either a boldface lie or demands new definitions of apartheid and genocide.

He added that the number of United Nations resolutions against Israel “boggles the imagination.” He questioned why there was no B.D.S. (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement against China, Myanmar, Turkey or Iran for their actual human rights abuses and attacks against minority populations.

Torres said his only conclusion for the double standards and demonization of Israel is gross anti-Semitism. He thought it was horrible and wanted to have absolutely nothing to do with such sentiments. He declared that it was appropriate to claim support of Israel as a liberal priority and wanted to become the “poster child for progressives for Israel.” It was time for “visibly pro-Israel voices to be heard in the public square.”

He then paused for questions from the enthusiastic Orthodox Jewish audience.

When asked about the rise of the anti-Israel voices, Torres discussed two principle sources: education and social media.

Torres pointed out that many schools have been indoctrinating students with anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. Most people in the United States don’t know about the actual rights of Arabs in Israel, the cleansing of Jews from Arab lands or even much about the Holocaust in Europe.

He called Twitter the “new guillotine.” He claimed that social media poisons the narrative as people with certain agendas feed fanaticism to millions of followers. Torres thought it was hard for the “center” to have a voice in social media as the entire business model rewarded extreme sentiments. He wants to hold those tech-media companies accountable for their spread of hate.

In searching for a new direction, Torres said it was time for progressives to “expand the scope of intersectionality to include Jews.” An average Jew suffers the greatest number of hate crimes in the United States and it was time to include the Jewish community in reciprocal allyship.

Torres recounted how the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists for America questionnaire asked that its candidates not visit Israel and to support the B.D.S. movement. He pondered whether some progressives had somehow turned on the Jewish State for having the chutzpah to progress from being victims to being empowered. “Isn’t that our goal?” he asked aloud rhetorically.

The pro-Israel crowd wanted to better understand how this young politician became a self-described “unicorn” as staunchly pro-Israel in an increasingly hostile anti-Israel progressive world. He pointed to his trip to the Jewish State.

He emotionally recalled his trip to both Masada and Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum. In those two stops he understood both the long history of Jews in the land of Israel and the painful destruction of Jewish communities in Israel and around the world. He connected how people in his district fear gunfire while Israelis fear rocket fire. He internalized how the United States has only two neighbors with which it coexists peacefully, while small Israel has multiple the number of neighbors which are hostile to the country’s basic existence.

Torres concluded that it is important for people to mobilize: to push for changes in education and social media; to build an infrastructure to help get pragmatic pro-Israel politicians elected; and to make sure to vote and get the constructive voices for peace elected.

The attendees were thrilled to take pictures with this “unicorn,” while simultaneously bemoaning that indeed he is unfortunately one-of-a-kind. At least, for the moment.

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“Which Most of the World Considers Illegal…”

Posted on June 8, 2021 by First.One.Through

To listen to anti-Zionist media reports on Israel is to hear a constant refrain “which most of the world considers illegal” appended to many sentences. Jews living in East Jerusalem gets the clause “which most of the world considers illegal.” Jews building a house in Efrat has an annex “which most of the world considers illegal.” An Israeli Jew with a businesses in Hebron is qualified with “which most of the world considers illegal.”

The presence of Jews anywhere in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region outside the Pale of Israel is considered illegal by much of the world, and the left-wing media will remind you of it every chance it gets (actually the media fails to mention that Arab countries ethnically cleansed its Jews as doing so would distract from its anti-Israel narrative). It does this in a tacit endorsement of the world’s anti-Zionism, not a criticism of the global backwards thinking.

Most of the world also considers gay marriage to be illegal. Even more, most regard simply being gay a crime. Committing a homosexual act is so offensive, it is a crime worthy of capital punishment in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia (Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home country), Sudan and Yemen.

As June is Gay Pride Month in the United States, it would be appropriate for every story that mentions homosexuality to include the phrase “which most of the world considers illegal.” Should broadcasters and newspapers opt not to, they should either similarly stop using the catchy phrase when mentioning Jews living in Jerusalem or acknowledge their own ingrained anti-Zionist bias.

*Gay Pride parade, Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo:* *MFA*)

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The Root of Left-Wing Anti-Zionism in Congress is Left-Wing Jews

Posted on June 7, 2021 by First.One.Through

In the wake of the Palestinian terrorist political party HAMAS firing 4,000 rockets into Israeli towns and the subsequent spike in anti-Semitism in the United States, freshman Congressman Mondaire Jones (D-NY) came to the home of a Westchester rabbi to talk to his constituents.

*Rep. Mondaire Jones talking at a reform rabbi’s house in Westchester, NY on June 5, 2021*

One would imagine that Israel and anti-Semitism would have been at the top of the agenda considering recent events. But that is fanciful thinking and detached from the reality of much of the non-Orthodox liberal Jewish community today.

The rabbi’s husband welcomed the crowd of roughly 40 people to his home. He began with the importance of combatting climate change as he introduced the congressman. Jones then spoke about his “lived experiences” and need to have an economy that worked for everybody and that combatted police violence. He discussed initiatives which he was advancing such as the America Rescue Plan and the child tax credit. He emphasized that government can be “transformative if the right people are in power.”

He then took questions.

The Jewish crowd began with a question about funding libraries. It then moved to immigration and how people can get more Democrats elected. Jones touched upon how things really move in Washington and the problem of the filibuster. Voter suppression, the infrastructure plan which included “human infrastructure” like childcare was discussed passionately. Jones suggested targeting Senator Marco Rubio of Florida (one of the most pro-Israel senators) and others on the next election cycle.

Far advanced into the meeting someone asked a question about foreign policy. They wanted to know about Afghanistan. Well, not really Afghanistan and terrorism. The question was will the U.S. provide immigration for Afghanis who provided assistance to the American war effort all these years.

With five minutes left in the hour meeting, someone brought up Israel.

Jones said he supported Israel’s right to defend itself and would oppose any conditioning of aid to Israel. Moreover, we would support funding the restocking Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system which is important for its security.

He then launched into a series of worries, such as his discomfort with Israel’s leadership. He was concerned about discussions about annexing parts of the West Bank. He was upset about Arabs being forcibly evicted from their homes and the dignity of Palestinians. He concluded by saying that Israel has to stop treating Palestinians as though they are not human beings.

No one said a word or batted an eyelash at his contention that Israelis don’t think of Arabs as human. Instead, they moved on to the final question and then asked for money to support Jones’ reelection campaign.

The host concluded the talk with noting that the attendees (White Jews) were very happy with the replacement of Rep. Nita Lowey in their district and Rep. Eliot Engel just south of them – two White Jews replaced with Black non-Jews – as the ceding of power to another minority group was in order and appropriate for the times. In any event, all liberal priorities seemed to remain in place. [Note to reader: Rep. Jamaal Bowman who replaced Engel could not be more to the opposite extreme of Engel’s strong pro-Israel positions].

So a progressive Black gay freshman congressman came to address liberal Jews immediately after a mini-war from Gaza and a terrible spike in anti-Semitism in the U.S., and the crowd focused on a host of liberal issues over and above Jew-hatred and Israel.

If a congressman sees that Jews in his district do not prioritize anti-Semitism or the Jewish State, why should he?

Perhaps it is time to reintroduce some basic principles to parts of the liberal Jewish community such as from Ethics of the Fathers, 1:14: “Hillel says, ‘If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?‘”

Related First One Through articles:

The Anti-Israel Community in a Jewish House of Worship

J Street is Only Considered “Pro-Israel” in Progressive Circles

A Disservice to Jewish Community

Rick Jacobs’ Particular Reform Judaism

Unity – not Unanimity – in the Pro-Israel Tent

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The UN on the Status of Jerusalem

Posted on June 2, 2021 by First.One.Through

UN Secretary-General António Guterres spoke to the General Assembly on May 20, 2021 as the latest battle between HAMAS and Israel was coming to a close. He spoke of the status of Jerusalem several times:

“I am also deeply concerned by the continuation of violent clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where several Palestinian families are under the threat of eviction.”
“I urge Israel to cease demolitions and evictions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in line with its obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law. All settlement activities, including evictions and demolitions, are illegal under international law.”
“Jerusalem is a holy city for three world religions. I underscore that the status quo at the holy sites must be upheld and respected.”
“We must work towards a resumption of negotiations that will address the status of Jerusalem and other final status issues, end the occupation and allow for the realization of a two-State solution on the basis of the 1967 lines, United Nations resolutions, international law and mutual agreements, with Jerusalem as capital of both Israel and Palestine.”

Note how the UNSG switched between “East Jerusalem” and “Jerusalem.” He referred to it as an actual place when connected to the “occupied West Bank” but conceded that it is a single city otherwise.

When it came to East Jerusalem, he stated that Arabs have rights to live there while Jews have none. Any house where a Jew lives was transformed into a “settlement” even a building which he owns and where his ancestors lived.

As it relates to the “status quo at the holy sites” which currently includes a ban on Jewish prayer at their holiest location of the Jewish Temple Mount, Guterres wants that ban to remain in place. He also appears to want the Arab squatters in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood which refuse to pay rent to the Jewish owners, to be able to remain. However, he seemingly wants to see all the Jews living in “East Jerusalem” to be expelled from the city, as they are doing so illegally “under international law.”

*Sheik Jarrah neighborhood as mapped out by Pro-Palestinian group Peace Now*. Homes where Jews live are considered “settlements” while other homes get no special markings.

Guterres also called for resumption of negotiations between the parties but simultaneously called for the outcomes favored by the Palestinians: that the negotiating position starts from “the 1967 lines” and that Jerusalem will be the “capital of both Israel and Palestine,” positions not favored by Israel.

The various positions show inconsistency in application, unless viewed as seeking outcomes favored by Arabs.

If the United Nations favors the “status quo” on matters like the ban of Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount and protecting the residence of Palestinian squatters, it implicitly recognizes all Jews already living in East Jerusalem and should no longer call them “settlers.” If the UN seeks coexistence between Jews and Arabs, it should support full equal rights for Jews on the Temple Mount, and for Arabs and Jews to live together freely as they choose throughout Jerusalem. Lastly, if the UN wants the two parties to negotiate a peace, it should allow the parties to do so without prejudging an outcome on particular issues.

But the UN doesn’t truly support the status quo, coexistence or a peace negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians. The UN only backs the Palestinians, its adopted wards, which makes it impossible for the organization to play a constructive role between the parties. It also underscores the importance for the United States to remain squarely behind Israel.

Related First One Through articles:

Jerusalem’s Old City Is a Religious War for Muslim Arabs

The United Nations and Holy Sites in the Holy Land

Dignity for Israel: Jewish Prayer on the Temple Mount

The Legal Israeli Settlements

Jerusalem Population Facts

Abbas’s Harmful East Jerusalem Fantasy

The Green Line Through Jerusalem

The Remarkable Tel Jerusalem

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Unequal Tallies and Israel’s Soft Force

Posted on May 31, 2021 by First.One.Through

The Three Little Pigs is a well-known children’s story. It relays how three pigs lived in different houses – of straw, sticks and of bricks. When a big bad wolf blew on the house of the pig living in a straw house, it collapsed quickly. In some versions of the story that pig ran to his friend in the house of sticks and in other versions he was eaten by the wolf.

The wolf then pursued the pigs in the house of sticks. It too came crashing down under the force of the wolf and the pigs ran for shelter in the pig’s house made of bricks. Using the same approach as before, the wolf was unable to blow down the strong house and needed to use greater force and a variety of means to try to destroy the brick house and kill the pigs inside. Ultimately, the wolf tried to climb down the chimney but the pigs had a fire ready for him and he died due to his own maniacal pursuits.

While using an un-kosher / non-halal animal is not ideal, this story is useful in considering the situation of the Jews and their non-Jewish neighbors.

Global Destruction of All Homes

The Jewish people built their foundational home in the land of Israel and have always considered it the center of Judaism, but those homes were destroyed over the millennia. They rebuilt houses of straw, sticks and bricks around the world, almost all of which crumbled under the forces of foes and neighbors including Babylonians, Romans, Muslims, Crusaders, Cossacks and Nazis. As recently as a century ago, there were many Jewish brick houses found in Poland, Germany, Austria, Argentina and Morocco while the Jewish homes in the United States, Palestine and Russia were only built with sticks and straw.

The Holocaust in Europe and the expulsion of Jews of the Arab world destroyed the magnificent brick houses as well as the smaller and more delicate ones. The remaining Jews scattered to rebuild and fortify the remaining houses. Today, the main Jewish brick homes stand in Israel and the United States, where approximately 85% of world Jewry lives.

Jewish Brick Homes in Israel

In Israel, the Jews are surrounded by roughly 7.25% of the global Muslim population. Israeli Jews are outnumbered by 20-to-1 in just their immediate vicinity, even though Israel has the largest number of Jews in the world. That is because Muslims outnumber Jews by over 100-to-1 in total.

Over the past century, Arab Muslim neighbors fought many wars – conventional and otherwise – against the Jews, trying to destroy their presence in their holy land. Jews survived the attacks and hardened their homes to withstand the onslaughts of their neighbors’ tanks, guns, scud missiles, hijackings, rockets and more.

As in “The Three Little Pigs,” the wolves were forced to modify their tactics to achieve their goal.

Palestinian suicide bombers forced Israel to build a separation barrier in the West Bank and convinced Israel to abandon its presence in Gaza. Building upon the successful guerilla warfare, the Palestinian wolves built terror tunnels for abductions, and introduced widespread stabbings, car rammings and incendiary balloons against Israelis.

The schemes did not produce the Muslims’ desired effects so the wolves have adopted two new principle strategies: 1) obtain powerful weapons of mass destruction; and 2) get Israel to soften its defenses so the wolves can penetrate the Jewish homes and drive them from the land.

The nuclear weapons plan of Iraq (1981) and Syria (2007) were foiled by Israel. At present, the Islamic Republic of Iran remains committed to pursuing nuclear weapons while calling for the destruction of Israel.

Regarding softening up Israel, the Palestinians seek to use global pressure – economic, political and military – to make Israel much more vulnerable to its all-out attacks and ultimately achieve the stated aim as clearly articulated in the HAMAS charter: destroy Israel and kill the Jews.

Nothing mobilizes the world against Jews as much as pictures of them killing children to rekindle historic blood libels. So HAMAS puts children in the frontlines of incursions at the Gaza border fence. The terrorist group launches rockets from residential neighborhoods, stores rockets in schools and builds terror tunnels underneath homes. Israel’s retaliatory attacks are designed by Palestinians to kill children who are served in open square caskets on the pages of the anti-Zionist world media.

*New York Times large front page color picture showing children killed in latest fighting between HAMAS and Israel.*

The noise not only activates anti-Zionist forces and makes Israel rethink how to prosecute wars, it serves as effective cover for Iran and others Islamic regimes to continue to build their ballistic missile and nuclear weapons capabilities.

The Lies of Victim Tally and Proportionate Force

The tally of the victims in battles between HAMAS and Israel will always be lopsided and serves as another effective tool to hurt Israel. The anti-Zionist press readily regurgitates the false narrative that victim tallies equates to proportionality of force. The truth is that HAMAS uses the maximum forces at its disposal while Israel uses only an iota of its capabilities. Gazans deliberately fire at Israeli civilians while Israel attempts to minimize civilian casualties with targeted attacks after warnings.

The gap in victim tallies is the result of a difference of FORCE MINUS DEFENSES, not a disproportionate use of force. Gazans lack bomb shelters for civilians and an air defense system. They fire missiles from densely populated neighborhoods which are intertwined with terrorist infrastructure. To isolate the comparison of force between the parties is to consider Gazans’ all-out evil intent of using its maximal firepower, against the soft power of a superior army. The disproportionate defenses produced the real difference, not the applied force of each party.

If there was no Egyptian and Israeli blockade of Gaza and HAMAS was able to import more advanced weaponry from Iran and Turkey, the death and destruction which Israel would have been forced to unleash on Gaza would have been significantly greater. The blockade likely saved thousands of Arab and Jewish lives.

But pro-Palestinian advocates will argue for lifting the blockade of Gaza, for spending millions to rebuild the Strip complete with bomb shelters, for boycotting Israeli companies, for stripping the Jewish State’s military aid and charging the country and its leaders with war crimes. Each action would increase the duration of the next war and its death toll.

*Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), attacking US support for Israel in Congress on May 13, 2021.*

The world’s remaining Jews have only two brick houses, and have learned to recognize the tactics and relentlessness of those desirous of destroying them. Jews cannot be passive as both the wolves and the wolves in sheep’s clothing act to destroy their last homes.

Related First One Through articles:

Pray for a Lack of “Proportionately” in Numbers. There will never be an Equivalence of Intent.

The Disproportionate Defenses of Israel and the Palestinian Authority

The Death of Civilians; the Three Shades of Sorrow

The New York Times Excuses Palestinian “Localized Expressions of Impatience.” I Mean Rockets.

While Palestinians Fire 400 Rockets, the United Nations Meets to Give Them Money

The United Nations Can Hear the Songs of Gazans, but Cannot See Their Rockets