Tag Archives: Israel

NY Times Dislikes ‘Judaizing’ Israel

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The world has a long history of telling Jews where they can and cannot live. Jews were not only barred from certain professions in the countries in which they lived but were limited in where they could have a home. Russia had its ‘Pale of Settlement’ and Europe had its ghettoes. Today, the United Nations supports Arabs’ wishes for Jews to be barred from living in half of the Jewish holy land.

The absurd whines of ‘Judaizing’ Jerusalem coming from Muslim countries is to be expected. Their wish to delegitimize the ancient history and deep roots of Jews to a city they also consider holy has a selfish motivation. While it doesn’t give them a pass for the anti-Semitism of denying Jews their history and culture, it can at least be rationalized.

But what can possibly be the motivation of The New York Times writing about the ‘Judaization’ of Israel itself?

As the latest May 2021 Gaza war came to a close, the Times ran a piece on May 23rd “Before Rage Flared, A Push To Makes Israeli Mixed Towns More Jewish.” The Times bemoaned how many “right-wing” Jews were leaving the West Bank and settling into mixed Arab-Jewish Israeli towns, making them more Jewish. Somehow the paper which repeatedly criticizes Jews living east of the 1948 Armistice Lines is now even upset when the Jews leave and move west of the ’48 Lines, if they seek to live amongst Arabs.

Jews in the central Israeli city of Lod, near the country’s main airport.
(photo: Dan Balilty/The New York Times)

The Times has been educating its readers that Jews should remain in their ghettoes, even in the United States. It wrote in a sympathetic manner how the Black community in Jersey City and other New Jersey towns felt that Jews were aggressively pushing into their Black communities. For the progressive media, it was not surprising that several Black people shot and killed Jewish residents. As President Obama’s press secretary Josh Earnest said of Jews moving into homes in Jerusalem which they had legally purchased, those Jews have an “agenda [which] provokes tensions.” For progressives, it is the presence of Jews which causes the problem, not the non-Jewish hatred of incoming Jewish neighbors.

Even inside of Israel, the anti-Zionist rag bemoans the presence of Jews which it can only picture as right-wing nationalistic racists, in sharp contrast to Arabs who have a rightful aspiration to a Jew-free country as well as being independent or a majority inside of Israel. The progressive mantra of a two state solution is 1.5 states for Arabs and 0.5 of a state for Jews. And even that, might be too much for those ‘right-wing’ Jews.

Related First One Through articles:

The Nerve of ‘Judaizing’ Neighborhoods

Time to Define Banning Jews From Living Somewhere as Anti-Semitic

Nicholas Kristof’s “Arab Land”

Related First.One.Through videos:

1001 Years of Expulsions (Schindlers List)

Jewish Migration Since 1900 (Diana Ross)

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“I’ll Take Terrorism for Millions of U.S. Dollars, Alex”

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President Barack Obama pressured the Palestinian Authority to stop inciting terrorism against Israeli civilians late in his second term. The Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2016 outlined that the State Department should reduce funds to the PA “equivalent to the amount expended by the Palestinian Authority as payments for acts of terrorism by individuals who are imprisoned after being fairly tried and convicted for acts of terrorism and by individuals who died committing acts of terrorism.” That Act was followed by the Taylor Force Act which “condition[ed] assistance to the West Bank and Gaza on steps by the Palestinian Authority to end violence and terrorism against Israeli citizens.“

PA President Mahmoud Abbas was unmoved and refused to stop the very popular “Pay-to-Slay” program which rewarded terrorists and their families based on their crimes and how long they served in Israeli jails.

President Trump continued to act upon U.S. principles to withdraw American largess when Abbas said that he celebrated martyrs and was commitment to pay Palestinian terrorist families “even if it costs PA its last penny.” Trump not only pulled donations from the PA but from UNRWA, the United Nations agency which employs 30,000 Palestinians to handle the education, healthcare, housing and small business loans for 6.3 million Palestinian Arabs.

While funding to the Palestinians withered during Trump’s term, so did the wars and terrorist activity. The wars from Gaza which began shortly after Obama was elected (2008-9) continued with wars in 2012 and 2014, followed by the “Stabbing and Car Ramming Intifada” from the West Bank in 2015-6, slowed to a low boil. Overall, 47 Israelis were killed by Arab terrorists during Trump’s term, the lowest tally in any four year span going back decades. This coincided with the fewest Palestinians killed during the four Trump years due to the lack of any large scale attacks.

Enter President Joe Biden in 2021, who made clear his desire to start giving money to Palestinians without insisting on reforms to their laws or activities. Biden’s team began to work with the PA to figure out ways to funnel it funds without tripping U.S. laws. Some ideas floated had the “martyr” families getting “jobs” with the PA for which they needn’t show. Another considered using the Palestinian Postal system to make the prisoner payments as the U.S. laws were directed at banks.

Ha ha. HAMAS leaders know better.

Rather than having a trickle of money pour into Palestinian pockets, they manufactured a “humanitarian crisis.” They launched rockets (which had been gathering dust during the Trump years) from densely populated Gaza neighborhoods into Israeli towns, inviting retaliatory strikes causing tremendous damage to lives and infrastructure. Palestinians then mobilized with follow-up appeals to the global community, complete with pictures of children amid the rubble as they cast themselves as victims to a charged anti-Zionist audience.

The United States reduced funding to the Palestinian Authority because of its refusal to stop INCITING terrorism, but now plans to pour hundreds of millions of dollars because of COMMITING terrorism. Such is the finesse of HAMAS, playing on the stupidity of an administration which refuses to hold terrorists accountable as well as eager to cut checks to anyone who looks like a victim.

Related First One Through articles:

Gazans Support Killing Jewish Civilians

Liberal Senators Look to Funnel Money into Gaza

Quantifying the Values of Gazans

Looking at Gaza Through Swedish Glasses

The UN Must Pay to Repair the Gaza Fence

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

The Palestinians aren’t “Resorting to Violence”; They are Murdering and Waging War

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‘The Maiming of the Jew’

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Joseph Borgen, a 29-year old Jewish New Yorker, was walking on his hometown’s streets on a sunny May day, when a gang of Arabs surrounded him, beat him to the ground and sprayed his face with mace for a minute. The police apprehended one of the assailants, Waseem Awawdeh, 23, from Brooklyn who said “If I could do it again, I would do it again.“

Palestinian supporters call for violence against the Jewish State amid days of conflict between Israel and HAMAS, in Brooklyn, New York, US, May 15, 2021. (photo credit: RASHID UMAR ABBASI / REUTERS)

The unprovoked hate crime happened amid various pro-Israel and pro-HAMAS protests in New York City in the aftermath of a 10-day fight between the two forces. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted after the attack on Borgen “Anti-semitism has NO place in our city.“

But it very much does. Attacking Jews because of Israel is celebrated on the stages of New York’s opera house and loudly defended in the liberal New York media.

In October 2014, the Metropolitan Opera House put on “The Death of Klinghoffer,” an opera that explored the killing of an elderly wheelchair-bound Jew vacationing on an anniversary cruise around Greece, by Palestinian terrorists. The New York Times wrote that the general manager of the Met, Peter Gelb, noted that the composer “John Adams said that in composing ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’ he tried to understand the hijackers and their motivations, and to look for humanity in the terrorists.” The Times editorial on June 19, 2014 offered its disapproval that “bowing to the wishes of Leon Klinghoffer’s daughters and other Jewish critics,” the Met cancelled the global telecast of the show so the whole world could not watch the spectacle. The New Yorker magazine wrote that “when Adams walked onstage, during the curtain calls, he received a huge ovation. I imagine that a similar roar would have greeted Gelb had he appeared,” and added “the opera is not anti-Semitic, nor does it glorify terrorism.”

If Jews would only read the local progressive rags, they would know not to be offended and let the masses enjoy their re-education that Palestinian terrorists have rightful grievances to attack Jews – ambulatory or otherwise – around the world.

Alas, those powerful Jews ignored their enlightened teachers and tried to stop a production that explored “the humanity of the terrorists” in killing an American Jew who had absolutely nothing to do with Palestinians. This became another reason to hate Jews, again of their own making: because of Israel and because of their powerful control on society. Don’t take the progressive press’ word for it: ask New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo about their oversized clout.

For the past decade, the liberal media has systematically ignored, minimized and excused anti-Semitism. For example, when their champion President Barack Obama said in February 2015 that “vicious zealots… randomly shoot a bunch of folks in a deli in Paris,” not one liberal media outlet challenged the absurd assertion that the attack was not rooted in anti-Semitism and that the killer was not targeting Jews.

In March 2016, the New York-based United Nations passed resolutions to ban the usage of religion when tied to terrorism in an effort to curb “Islamophobia.” Yet less than a week later, it called out “Jewish extremists.” The Arab and Muslim-dominated global agency acted to “protect” the honor of 1.8 billion Muslims but had no concern about vilifying a few million Jews at the same time.

In early 2019, the leaders of the U.S. Congress could similarly not condemn Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a freshman member who repeatedly spouted anti-Semitic bile, and instead called out generic hatred (which Omar called a victory for Muslims). Some months later, the same members of Congress – including New York Senator Chuck Schumer – knelt on the floor wearing African Kente cloth to specify that Black Lives Matter in a moment of solidarity he could not find for fellow Jews earlier.

In September 2019, New York’s only Ivy League school, Columbia University, invited Malaysian Prime Minster Mahathir Mohamad to speak on campus, even though it was widely known that he referred to Jews as “hooked nosed” and was “glad to be labeled an anti-Semite.” Shortly thereafter, the Columbia Alumni for Campus Fairness produced a report documenting 100 anti-Jewish incidents at Columbia and Barnard over the prior three years including a swastika painted on a Jewish professor’s office and various faculty members who promote Holocaust denial.

Perhaps not wanting to be outdone, New York University awarded the President’s Service Award to Students for Justice in Palestine, an anti-Israel and anti-Jewish group.

The reality is that Jews have always been the most targeted victims of hate crimes in the United States – more than Blacks, Muslims or the LGBT community. They’ve been attacked when there have been fights in Israel and when it has been calm, when the Democrats ruled as well as when Republicans were in charge. The anti-Semitism is a disgraceful constant.

What is also undeniable, is that physical attacks on Jews have skyrocketed as politicians call Jews both powerful and dangerous while the liberal press anoints Victims of Preference which cannot be Jews. The daily headlines and editorials in The New York Times serve as propaganda material for HAMAS, inverting cause-and-effect, by repeating lies about “ethnic cleansing” and refusing to mention the anti-Semitic genocidal foundation of HAMAS. To cleanse any appearance of anti-Jewish animus, it allows Jews to join the fray.

New York’s cultural and educational scene welcomed anti-Semites to the stage, and liberal politicians and press took box seats. As the world democratized content, the play moved outside. It’s called ‘The Maiming of the Jew,’ and features real New Yorkers.

Related First One Through articles:

Cause and Effect: Making Gaza

The Holocaust Will Not Be Colorized. The Holocaust Will Be Live.

WHY The Progressive Assault on Israel (and Jews)

The Joy of Lecturing Jews

Where’s the March Against Anti-Semitism?

Ramifications of Ignoring American Antisemitism

The War Against Israel and Jewish Civilians

Eyal Gilad Naftali Klinghoffer. The new Blood Libel.

25,000 Jews Remaining

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No One Mentions Actual Palestinians’ Sentiments

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To listen to the United Nations and to read the mainstream media, one would think that there is a true understanding of Palestinian Arabs. The Palestinian advocates argue on their behalf so often, one naturally assumes that they have their current sentiments thoroughly summed up.

Alas, “hope” was not just the aspirational theme for Barack Obama, but the mantra of the Palestinian fan club. The UN, alt-left press and politicians are on a marketing and propaganda mission, and facts are a necessary casualty.

Some examples touted repeatedly by the UN and left-wing extremists include: that the principal issue for Palestinians is the Israeli “occupation”; that the people of Gaza just want to live in peace alongside Israel; that they are ruled by an Islamic militant group they don’t want or like; and that they support a two-state solution.

These are all lies.

The Palestinians poll themselves every three months whose findings showcase the opposite sentiments. Here are some recent findings from March 2021:

Palestinians are primarily concerned about the failure of their own economy and leadership. The number one issue which Palestinians want the Palestinian Authority to address is the economy. The second issue is the rampant corruption in the leadership ranks and in public institutions. Coming in third is not wanting Israeli Jews to live in the West Bank and Gaza and dealing with the Israeli military. (When the question was asked slightly differently in the same poll, the top three issues included reunifying Gaza and the West Bank – “occupation” came in fourth).

Palestinians are not in favor of a “two-state solution.” Roughly 57% of Palestinians oppose the idea, with Gazans opposing it even more (65%) than Arabs in the West Bank (51%).

Gazans support attacking Israelis. Roughly 70% of Gazans said that they support physically attacking Israeli civilians inside of Israel. That is down from 77% who were in favor of attacking Jewish civilians in December 2020. This seemingly outrageous and horrific question is actually asked each quarter, and the high positive response rate shows why.

Palestinians hate their “moderate” leader. Roughly 68% of Palestinians want acting President of the PA Mahmoud Abbas to resign immediately.

Palestinians want a terrorist to serve as president. When offered the idea of voting for anyone for president, the leading candidate is Marwan Barghouti (22%) a terrorist convicted of killing five people and sitting in an Israeli jail. The runner-up is Ismail Haniyeh (14%), the head of the terrorist group Hamas.

These findings are consistent with the 2014 ADL poll which found the Palestinians to be the most anti-Semitic in the world (93% – almost every Palestinian Arab harbors anti-Jewish attitudes), who elected a Holocaust denier as president and the anti-Semitic Hamas terrorist group to 58% of the parliament in the last elections.

Yet this entire fact-pattern is concealed in the narrative packaged to the world. Without the underlying information, people cannot ponder their own assessment of the Arab-Israel conflict.

A thoughtful reviewer of the situation armed with facts might consider that Palestinian Arabs are running their own version of the region’s “Arab Spring” in which locals rebel against their leaders because of systemic corruption of governmental institutions and terrible economic conditions. In the Palestinian Arab Spring, the local Arabs see more to be gained in attacking the wealthier Jewish State next door rather than their own leadership so as to 1) get the west to spend more monies in rebuilding their failed institutions and infrastructure, 2) win more land or trade from Israel, 3) push as many stateless Arabs as possible into the richer Israel in a “right of return”, or 4) ultimately get a one-state solution in which all of the Arabs get a huge upgrade by merging into Israel, a first world functioning country. Such viewpoint leads to a conclusion that the latest May 2021 fighting was principally a response to PA President Mahmoud Abbas cancelling the first elections to be held in 15 years, not protests to a localized eviction of squatters in Jerusalem.

If the world knew of the Palestinians’ anti-Semitism, preference for violence and a one state- solution, and their primary disgust at their own leaders’ failures, perhaps they would be less likely to believe the chants at the United Nations, from “progressive” politicians and the alt-left media that it is Israeli actions which are to blame for the current death and destruction. It would plainly reveal the alt-left’s ongoing global quest of moving assets from those with more to those with less, regardless of the actual situation in the Middle East and merits and methodology of doing so.

The press prefers to censor conservative and pro-Israel platforms as it publishes its #AlternativeFacts and #FakeNews spouted from its favorite progressives. The United Nations whitewashes the hatred and crimes of its adopted Palestinian wards as it attempts to create a Palestinian state regardless of its costs.

The Palestinian propaganda machine has a pre-packaged narrative and solution which they want the world to swallow whole: Israel – like the United States – was built on racism and theft, and it must abdicate/share its land, wealth, military capabilities, technology, security, dignity and independence with its impoverished neighbor. Sharing the frightening facts and horrible sentiments of Palestinian Arabs undermines that goal.

Related First One Through articles:

Socialists Employ Arabs’ Four Step Battle Plan

The NY Times Will Not Write About the Preferred Violence of Palestinians

NY Times Hides Abbas’s Violence and Pence’s Truth

The United Nations’ Incitement to Violence

UN Concern is only for Violence in “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” not Israel

The Palestinians aren’t “Resorting to Violence”; They are Murdering and Waging War

Will a Jailed Terrorist or a Terrorist Group Run the Palestinian Authority?

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English Lesson: Eviction, Expulsion and Ethnic Cleansing

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Progressive politicians and the left-wing media are using three terms interchangeably regarding Arab residents of Jewish Israeli-owned homes in the Sheikh Jarrah section of Jerusalem. Doing so is not only inaccurate but inflammatory.

Here is a primer to understand the difference of the terms:

  • Eviction is the act of removing a single entity (person/ family) from a single location.
  • Expulsion is the act of removing a single entity from an entire region.
  • Ethnic Cleansing is the act of removing an entire ethnic/ religious group from an entire region.

The situation in Sheikh Jarrah is an eviction. It pertains to Arab squatters who have not paid rent to their landlords for several years. These tenants are not being forced from the neighborhood and are free to move into adjacent apartment buildings inside of Jerusalem. The Israeli courts, which have jurisdiction on the matter whether someone believes that the eastern section of Jerusalem is Israel or believes Israel is responsible as the “Occupying Force,” ruled that the evictions are legal.

This case is discrete. Israel is not involved in a massive expulsion of Arab residents from Jerusalem. As proof, from 1980, the year Israel formalized Jerusalem as its eternal undivided capital in its Basic Laws, until 2019, the Arab population in Jerusalem grew 3.4 times, dwarfing the Jewish population growth rate which was only 1.9 times over that period. The number of households (homes/ apartments) for Arabs rose 188% since 1990 compared to just 64% for Jews. Further, all Arab residents can apply for Israeli citizenship and these past few years have seen a spike in Arabs becoming Israelis.

In sharp contrast, an example of ethnic cleansing can be seen by what the Jordanian Arabs did to Jews in Jerusalem from 1948 to 1954. First they invaded Israel and killed or expelled all of the Jews from the “West Bank” region they illegally seized. They destroyed 58 synagogues in the Old City of Jerusalem and barred any Jews from even visiting their holiest location during their duration of illegal rule. And they annexed the entire area including eastern Jerusalem, passed a law making it illegal to sell land to Jews and granted citizenship to anyone “not being Jewish.“

That’s actual ethnic cleansing, which is a very different dynamic than Arab residents of Jerusalem have experienced under Israeli rule.

But the alt-left is doing its utmost to paint Israel as racist:

  • Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) said that Israel “is practicing ethnic cleansing.“
  • Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said “This [Jerusalem] deputy mayor is describing ethnic cleansing here, yet everyone is [sic] the West is pretending that’s not what’s happening to Palestinians.“
  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke about “the expulsions of Palestinians.“
  • The New York Times wrote about “the plight of six Palestinian families facing expulsion from their homes.“

These lies have inflamed the passions of radical jihadists. Hundreds of people have died and millions of dollars of damage has been done in large part because of the incitement.

Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, who has has often been accused of anti-Semitism, lead the false charge against Israel of an “ethnic cleansing” of Jerusalem Arabs. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) 

Progressive politicians and the far left media have a direct hand in the deaths and injuries of hundreds of Arabs and Jews in and around Israel over the past weeks. While their lies and smears caused horrific damage thousands of miles away, it is a price the alt-left is willing to pay to boost their bona fides with anti-Zionist extremists who support them and keep them in positions of influence.

Related First One Through articles:

The Original Nakba: The Division of “TransJordan”

The Three Camps of Ethnic Cleansing in the BDS Movement

“Ethnic Cleansing” in Israel and the Israeli Territories

The Long History of Dictating Where Jews Can Live Continues

NY Times Select “Evictions” in Jerusalem

Will the UN Demand a Halt to Arabs Moving to Jerusalem?

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The Selective Protests Reveal Anti-Semitism

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When protestors only show up for certain victims and conflicts, what is the takeaway?

The Palestinian terrorist political party HAMAS launched thousands of rockets into Israel in May 2021, seemingly ready to add a fourth war to its tally since it took over Gaza in 2007. In short order, the streets in major cities around the world were full of protesters raging about the hundreds of people who were killed by Israel’s retaliatory attacks on the HAMAS terrorist infrastructure.

Protesters at a Free Palestine demonstration in Sydney in May 2021. Thousands of people have marched in Sydney and Melbourne as the conflict in Gaza worsened. (Photo: Bianca de Marchi/AFP/Getty Images)

Yet no one has taken to the streets regarding the multi-year ongoing war that has killed 250,000 people in impoverished Yemen. Thousands of children have been killed in the bloody campaign but the loss of life of these poor Muslim Arabs gathers neither tears nor shouts. The United Nations and news agencies don’t post daily death totals on that tragedy. Or weekly. Or monthly.

That’s an Israel phenomenon.

In over six years of war, one cannot find a single article about protestors in Australia assembling in the streets to protest the carnage in Yemen. The best one finds is an opinion piece from two and one-half years ago, arguing that Australia should stop supplying Saudi Arabia with weapons because of the 85,000 children who died either directly or indirectly from the war which was only four years-old at that point in time.

The situation is identical for “Pro-Palestinian” protests in South Africa, Brazil, the Netherlands and the United States. Though tens and hundreds of thousands more Muslim Arabs in Yemen and Syria may be being killed, the streets only fill with protestors for Palestinian Arabs.

Which begs the questions as to why.

It is not as though the dynamics are unique with various state actors like Saudi Arabia/ Iran/ Yemen in one situation compared to Israel versus a non-state entity like the Palestinian Authority in the other, as many countries like Brazil and South Africa recognize Palestine as an actual country.

It is also a fact that Israel is not waging war against the Palestinians generally; it is targeting the terrorist group HAMAS, much like the U.S. targeting the Taliban in Afghanistan (another situation which has gathered virtually no global protests despite the war raging for twenty years).

The streets seemingly echo the halls of the United Nations, which adopted the Palestinians as its perennial wards, thereby making it incapable of condemning its own foster children regardless of its continued war crimes. Palestinians are always, and can only be victims.

But the protestors are even angrier than the U.N. The United Nations does not – at least openly – seek the destruction of the Jewish State. The same cannot be said of many of the agitators with signs ranging from “From the River to the sea“, “Hitler was right” and chants “We don’t want no two states; we want ’48.” These activists assemble in plazas where Nazis destroyed synagogues – literally on the ashes of Jews – to try to label Israel as the actual terrorist group rather than HAMAS.

It is in watching the protests that the answer to the uniqueness of solidarity with Palestinians shines through: it is not the nature of the victim or scale of the battle which brings out the anger but the underlying cause itself. The protestors do not see HAMAS as a terrorist organization or its charter calling for the destruction of Israel as unjust. They do not believe in the legitimacy of Israel and want it dismantled, and believe that IT CAN be dismantled.

Pro-Palestinian agitators aren’t seeking to protect Palestinian civilians as much as they want to pressure their own governments to make Israel vulnerable – politically, militarily and economically – to facilitate HAMAS’s goal of destroying the Jewish State.

Related First One Through articles:

The War Against Israel and Jewish Civilians

Israel and Wars

US Hypocrisy – “Reasonableness and Restraint”

Protesting the Victor, not the Victims

France’s Hypocrisy Expelling Radical Extremist Non-Citizens

Turkey’s Hajj of Hypocrisy

Liberal Hypocrisy on Foreign Government Intervention

Turkish Hypocrisy – Erdogan’s Line of Defense

The Palestinians aren’t “Resorting to Violence”; They are Murdering and Waging War

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A Proper UN Security Council Resolution on Israel and HAMAS

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Adopted by the Security Council on XX May 2021

The Security Council,

Recalling the wars between Israel and HAMAS in 2008-9, 2012 and 2014,

Recalling the vast network of tunnels used by HAMAS to abduct Israelis run underneath civilians homes and neighborhoods,

Recalling the incendiary balloons sent into Israel destroying fields over the past two years,

Recalling the 1988 HAMAS Charter which calls for the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews,

Recalling the 2007 rout in Gaza by HAMAS and the expulsion of the Palestinian Authority, and HAMAS’s usurpation of the administration of the region,

Reaffirming its strong commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Israel,

Reaffirming the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority as the one government responsible for all Palestinian territories,

Recalling the Oslo Accord signed and agreed to by Israel and the Palestinian Authority regarding the administrative control of Areas A, B and C,

Strongly condemning the ongoing rocket barrage in early May 2021 against Israeli population centers including the Ben Gurion International Airport, and calling for an immediate cessation of such HAMAS attacks without preconditions,

Stressing the need for de-escalation across Israel and Gaza and calling for implementation of a ceasefire and the immediate cessation of hostilities against Israel,

Expressing concern at the ongoing political, security, economic and humanitarian challenges in Gaza, including the ongoing violence and threats arising from the illicit transfer, diversion, destabilising accumulation, and misuse of weapons,

Reiterating its call for all parties within the Palestinian Authority to adhere to resolving their differences through dialogue and consultation, reject acts of violence to achieve political goals, and refrain from provocation,

Expressing its alarm that areas of Gaza remain under the control of HAMAS and about the negative impact of their presence, violent extremist ideology and actions on stability in Gaza and other Palestinian territories, including the devastating humanitarian impact on the civilian populations,

Recalling the listing of HAMAS and associated individuals on various terrorist lists including by the United States, the European Union and Israel,

Noting the critical importance of effective implementation of the sanctions regime imposed by Egypt and Israel to stop the import of weapons by HAMAS into Gaza,

Condemning in the strongest terms the attack on Ben Gurion airport and the over 2,000 missiles fired into Israel by HAMAS,

Expressing grave concern at the threat to peace and security in Israel and Gaza arising from the illicit transfer, destabilising accumulation, and misuse of missiles,

Condemning in the strongest terms violations of International Humanitarian Law in firing missiles from dense civilian populations, turning innocent civilians into human shields,

Determining that the situation in Gaza continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security,

Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,

1. Declares the need for the full and timely implementation of the political transition of power from HAMAS to the Palestinian Authority in Gaza;

2. Decides that HAMAS and its leaders listed in the annex be placed on a global sanctions list;

3. Encourages the Palestinian Authority to bar HAMAS from participating in any future parliamentary or presidential elections;

4. Encourages Member States to place HAMAS on it terrorist list and impose necessary sanctions until it gives power over Gaza to the Palestinian Authority;

5. Affirms that the recruitment or use of children in armed conflict in violation of international law;

6. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

Rockets are launched towards Israel from Rafah, in the southern the Gaza Strip, controlled by the terrorist Palestinian Hamas political party, on May 12, 2021. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)

Related First One Through articles:

Excerpt of Hamas Charter to Share with Your Elected Officials

New Head of UNRWA is Another Hamas-Sympathizer Politician

The United Nations Once Again “Encourages” Hamas

UN Breakthrough? “Hamas continues to directly threaten the security of Israel”

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Voices of/to the House Foreign Affairs Committee

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People consider what actions they can take when they are upset by the situations around them. When looking at the violence in Israel, a place to direct attention is the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The committee is responsible for legislation regarding foreign affairs, national security and arms control. The committee has a direct impact on U.S. policy.

The committee members include Democrats and Republicans, both pro- and anti-Israel voices. They include:

Democrats: Gregory Meeks (NY) (Chairman); Brad Sherman (CA); Albio Sires (NJ); Gerald Connolly (VA); Theodore Deutch (FL); Karen Bass (CA); William Keating (MA); David Cicilline (RI); Ami Bera (CA); Joaquin Castro (TX); Dina Titus (NV); Ted Lieu (CA); Susan Wild (PA); Dean Phillips (MN); Ilhan Omar (MN); Colin Allred (TX); Andy Levin (MI); Abigail Spanberger (VA); Chrissy Houlahan (PA); Tom Malinowski (NJ); Andy Kim (NJ); Sara Jacobs (CA); Kathy Manning (NC); Jim Costa (CA); Juan Vargas (CA); Vicente Gonzalez (TX); Brad Schneider (IL)

Republicans: Michael McCaul (TX); Christopher Smith (NJ); Steve Chabot (OH); Joe WIlson (SC); Scott Perry (PA); Adam Kinzinger (IL); Lee Zeldin (NY); Ann Wagner (MO); Brian Mast (FL); Brian Fitzpatrick (PA); Ken Buck (CO); Tim Burchett (TN); Mark Green (TN); Andy Barr (KY); Greg Steube (FL); Dan Meuser (PA); Claudia Tenney (NY); August Pfluger (TX); Peter Meijer (MI); Nicole Malliotakis (NY); Ronny Jackson (TX); Young Kim (CA); Maria Elvira Salazar (FL)

Some of the committee members have spoken recently about Israel:

  • Chairman Gregory Meeks (general concern): “I am deeply concerned by recent violence in Jerusalem perpetrated by both Israeli and Palestinian mobs. To stoke the flames further, Hamas fired dozens of deadly rockets and mortars into Israel. All these acts of violence should be condemned by responsible leaders, Israeli and Palestinian. The Israeli National Police, who are responsible for ensuring safety and order in the city, must use precision and wisdom to focus on those engaging in violence and criminality, whomever they may be, and ensure the rights and freedoms of all residents of the city, particularly during holy periods. The situation in Sheikh Jarrah is deeply concerning. The United States believes Jerusalem must be a city in which coexistence, not violence, reigns, and it is up to the residents, leaders, and officials, to ensure that it is.”
  • Ilhan Omar (anti-Israel): “Israeli air strikes killing civilians in Gaza is an act of terrorism. Palestinians deserve protection. Unlike Israel, missile defense programs, such as Iron Dome, don’t exist to protect Palestinian civilians. It’s unconscionable to not condemn these attacks on the week of Eid”
  • Joaquin Castro (anti-Israel): “The forced displacement of Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem is illegal and unacceptable. The Biden administration must stand up for the rights of the Palestinian families in #SheikhJarrah and urge the Israeli government to stop these evictions.“
  • Lee Zeldin (pro-Israel): “An attack on Israel is an attack on the United States. Our nation should stand shoulder to shoulder with our greatest ally in the world as it is indiscriminately targeted by Hamas terrorists launching rockets at innocent civilians.“
  • Ted Deutch (pro-Israel): “Congress is committed to maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge and its ability to defend itself, by itself, against persistent threats. Our aid to Israel is a vital and cost-effective expenditure which advances important U.S. national security interests in a highly challenging region. For decades, Presidents of both parties have understood the strategic importance of providing Israel with security assistance.“
David Duke, head of the notorious hate group the KKK, celebrating Ilhan Omar’s attack on the “ZOG” (Zionist Occupation Government)

Click on the links above which go directly to each committee member’s contact page and share your thoughts about what is going on in Israel today.

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The Wide Scope of Foreign Interference

Conditional U.S. Support in The Middle East

Bernie Sanders’ Antisemitic and Anti-Zionist Friends

The Middle East with American Leaders that Back Friends and Punish Enemies

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NY Times Alternative Facts: Area C

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The New York Times has an aggressive re-education effort about the world. It distorts history and facts in its enterprise, particularly when it comes to Israel.

A March 21, 2021 article was designed to elicit empathy for Palestinian Arabs, which is the anti-Israel’s paper common practice and right. What is unfortunate is not simply the bias but distortion of truth.

March 21, 2021 New York Times article about Palestinian sheep hearders suffering under Israeli “occupation”

The paper’s background to the area commonly known as the “West Bank” was as follows:

“The Israeli government’s explanation for the demolitions dates back to the 1990s Oslo Accords with the Palestinians. The agreement gave Israel administrative control over more than 60 percent of the West Bank, including most of the Jordan Valley, pending further negotiations which were meant to be completed within five years.

“But over two decades of talks, the two sides have failed to agree on a deal, so Israel retains control of the lands – known as Area C – and has the right to demolish homes built there without planning permission.”

The 1993 and 1995 Oslo Accords did not “give Israel administrative control” over area C; the Accords gave the Palestinian Authority (PA) control over Areas A and B. Israel has had administrative control of the West Bank for over fifty years. The Israelis gave the Palestinians the opportunity to control an area for the first time in history.

The Israelis were willing to give the PA more lands, including the vast majority of Area C in 2000. Not getting 100% of their stated desires, the Palestinians launched what is gently described as the “Second Intifada,” a murderous guerilla war waged for four years until Israel was able to halt the Palestinian killers by constructing a security barrier.

Israel handed additional lands to the Palestinians in 2005, as it withdrew from the Gaza Strip. That action led to wars from Gaza in 2008, 2012 and 2014 followed by West Bank car ramming and stabbing attacks in 2015 and 2016. The Palestinian actions destroyed any notion of Israel ceding control of more land to an entity hell-bent on murder. This reality is a far cry from the Times narrative that “the two sides failed to agree on a deal.”

Lastly, the Times, which forever likes to use harsh terms like “occupation” and “illegal” for Israel, is loathe to point out Palestinian terrorism and illegal activities. Like “illegal aliens” in the United States being called “undocumented immigrants,” the Times sanitized the illegally built Arab structures by claiming they were simply completed “without planning permission.”

The New York Times is deliberately posting ahistorical information to sway its readership to take a positive view of Palestinian Arabs and a negative view of Israel. It is part of the left-wing mantra to engage globally by distancing America from allies like Israel and warming relationships with state sponsors of terrorism like Iran.

Related First One Through articles:

Names and Narrative: It is Called ‘Area C’

Importing Peaceful Ideas to the West Bank

The 1967 War Created Both the “West Bank” and the Notion of a Palestinian State

American Leaders Always Planned on Israel Absorbing Much of the West Bank

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

Names and Narrative: The West Bank / Judea and Samaria

Extreme and Mainstream. Germany 1933; West Bank & Gaza Today

NY Times Alternative Facts on Palestinian Elections

NY Times Will Not Write About Arab Pogroms

The NY Times Will Not Write About the Preferred Violence of Palestinians

NY Times Disgraceful Journeys

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Christians Love the Jewish State

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The Catholic Pope went to Iraq in March 2021 to visit the land that used to be home to nearly two million Christians. A country which was at one time an example of coexistence, routed its Jews in the 1940’s and 1950’s and other religious communities over the past decades. The Christian population has plummeted by 80 per cent.

Upon arriving in Iraq, Pope Francis said “Iraq has suffered the disastrous effects of wars, the scourge of terrorism and sectarian conflicts often grounded in a fundamentalism incapable of accepting the peaceful coexistence of different ethnic and religious groups.” He used the term “fundamentalism” without tying it to Islam, so as to not offend his hosts and trying to build bridges to salvage the remains of the Christian community.

No one is confused about the situation.

Open Doors, a Christian advocacy group, published its 2021 World Watch List highlighting the 50 worst countries for Christians. Other than North Korea (#1) and India (#10), all of the worst anti-Christian countries had a Muslim majority. Not surprisingly, almost all of these countries have seen their Christian populations decline.

Yet, about 500 miles away from Iraq, next to war-torn Syria, lies the new Garden of Eden, a sanctuary for Christians in the center of the Middle East/ North Africa (MENA): the Jewish State of Israel.

When the Modern State of Israel was founded in 1948, there were 34,000 Christians in the country. That number has grown by 5.2 times, to 177,000 today. It is a rate higher than the growth of the Christian population worldwide and dwarves the rate of change of Christians in the MENA region.

Christian tourists also love visiting Israel. In 2018, Christians made up 56% of the tourists visiting the modern Jewish State. The country actively encourages Christians to come visit to see the birthplace of Christianity and visit sacred sites.

Being baptized in the Jordan River are Latin celebrities, from left, Zuleyka Rivera, Luis Alfonso Borrego, Andrea Escalona, Sherlyn González, and Carlitos Perez-Ruiz (Luis Fonsi’s manager). Photo courtesy of America’s Voices in Israel

In 2015, the Christian community built a new museum in the heart of Israel’s capital of Jerusalem, the Friends of Zion Museum. It is designed to “tell the stories of both the dream to restore the Jewish people to their historic homeland and of the brave non-Jews who assisted them in the realization of this dream.” It is a feat of religious harmony enabled by the Israeli government in Judaism’s most holy city. It stands in sharp contrast to the treatment of Christians and Christianity elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Pope’s tour of the Muslim Middle East is a reminder to Christians everywhere of the uniqueness of the one Jewish State and reasons to continue its commitment to see Israel thrive.

Related First One Through articles:

The End of Together

Are Muslim-Majority Countries Anti-Christian?

The New York Times Thinks that the Jews from Arab Countries Simply “Immigrated”

A Flower in Terra Barbarus

Israel, the Liberal Country of the Middle East

The Arguments over Jerusalem

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