Category Archives: Elsewhere

Peshmerga

The things we learn from our friends at TZP. I sent a screen shot not long ago to my teammates of some of the followers we have picked up. To my great shock they are from….wait for it, no not the DNC, but rather, Iraq. Well color me baffled. As he does from time to time, and it’s always gratefully appreciated, Y.B. helped clear things up for me. He sent me a link to the following documentary. It’s excellent. Not only is it in Hebrew, which is good practice for me, but it has English subtitles, because I’m just not that good. Yet. I’d urge you to watch it. It’s about 45 minutes long and contains a wealth of information, and to me inspiration.

A small bit of background. Peshmerga means “those who stand in front of death.” The head of the Peshmerga is the President of Iraqi Kurdistan. The Kurdistan Region is located in the north of Iraq and constitutes the country’s only autonomous region. Often referred to as Southern Kurdistan, since the Kurds consider it to be one of the four parts of a Greater Kurdistan. Southeastern Turkey is Northern Kurdistan, northern Syria is Rojava (as it is called in the video) or Western Kurdistan, and northwestern Iran is Eastern Kurdistan. The Peshmerga were said to have been instrumental in the capture of Saddam Hussein. I’m guessing the Kurds are still miffed about the 3,200 to 5,000 Kurds killed and 7,000 to 10,000 more injured, most of which were civilians, in the Halabja chemical attack on March 16, 1988 by Saddam. Stuff like that tends to make one hold a grudge. In Syria under Assad, the clothes, language, dances, songs, basically the culture of Kurdistan was forbidden to them. If you can erase a culture, it’s easier to dominate or erase a people.

There are different branches of Kurdish fighters. There is a handy cut out and save guide to the who’s who of the different units at Who are the Kurds? A user’s guide to Kurdish politics. Some are Pro-Western and capitalist, some more communist. What they are all doing though is fighting ISIS. Or as barry calls it, the JV team. And barry has once again demonstrated what happens when people are incapable of seeing evil for what it is. Or seeing the wrong thing as evil, for example, law-abiding gun owners, police, Christmas Trees and Bakeries. But I digress.

Back to Iraq. The “JV” team has decimated several Yazidi villages. Some Yazidis have managed to flee through routes the Kurds who crossed the border from Syria managed to make for them. The Yazidis are told they will convert to Sunni Islam or die. Then they are given a “deadline”. If they do convert, the men are forced to fight with isis and the women are taken. Another small digression here, isis has said they are infiltrating fighters with the “refugees” to America, and if a people needed refuge, it would be the Yazidi or Christians fleeing. Yet, the door to refuge in America is shut to them.

The Kurds have a rough row to hoe. Turkey threatens them if they perform operations near the Turkish border and the PKK is involved because Turkey blames the PKK for the “attempted Coup”. Their weapons are outdated and in short supply and help from the rest of the world has been in quite short supply. The Christian militia in Syria does fight with them though in some places. Despite all this, the Kurdish fighters have been amazingly effective against isis.

In case you didn’t watch the video, here’s a interesting “Cliff Notes” part for you. Some of the units are made up of women. Much like the IDF, these women are fighters, and fight alongside their male brothers-in-arms. Some of the unit leaders are women. In the video one of the male PKK fighters says the women are excellent leaders, better than some of the men, they are good teachers. And some of these leaders have been at it for a long time.

Media-Leader of a PKK group
Media-Leader of a PKK group

Therefore isis has put large bounties on them. Like Media, shown above.

Unlike barry’s JV team isis, the Kurds do not kill the captured isis fighters. They go to prisons. The isis fighters? They enjoy killing the Kurds, or Jew, or Christians as it says in the video. Also Journalists. They enjoy killing them as well. They will tell you. The interviewer asked, he had personally known some of the journalists they killed.

And he's proud.
And he’s proud.

They also asked the captured isis fighters about their recruits that came from other countries. They explained the got in easily across the Turkish border. They just claim to be something they aren’t.

pretend2b
No, we aren’t jihadist. We’re refug, er um, free Army.

But back to the Kurdish women

An all-female Kurdish militia has launched a military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq with the aim of avenging and liberating the Yazidi women who’ve been raped, assaulted and killed by the terror group in Northern Iraq’s Sinjar region.

And the Yazidi women

An all-female Yazidi militia has vowed to be part of the operation to attack and drive out the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) from northern Iraq. The Sinjar Women’s Units (YJS) announced Saturday that they have “not forgotten those Yazidi women sold in [the slave] markets of Mosul or burned alive.”

If you aren’t aware of the issues I’m talking about this should get you up to speed pretty quick.

‘Yazidi women dragged by their hair, sold into sex slavery by ISIS for $25’

The isis fighters if given a choice, as you saw in the video, will usually choose to run from the Kurdish women. They hear their battle cry and choose to beat feet, and are often instructed to do so. Why? Because if they are killed by a “lowly woman”, it’s no 72 virgins and heaven for them. Is that sweet or what?

So, what brought all this on about the female fighters in Peshmerga? Well, it seems we recently had an election in the US. A woman labeled a “strong woman” a “fighter” by the media and the left was defeated. I, me, personally, believe many have confused “strong” with evil. As a result of these elections it seems countless people have been “triggered”. I’m not sure if they’ve been “triggered” by their winning trophies for “participating” most of their lives, if it’s indoctrination by the preponderance of left wing loons that indoctrinate in schools, their parents outrage that the appointed person didn’t win, or if their left wing coffee shop messed up their coffee. Or, they may have been “triggered” by $1500 a week pay. Non-profit? Interesting, would this fall under the auspices of the clintoon foundation or just another one of soros’s charity organizations? I dunno.

Pretty good pay, eh?
Pretty good pay, eh?

But when you have crowds blocking ambulances from getting through, idiots punching innocent police horses, and you have a pregnant woman trapped in her car as “peaceful protestors” hit the windows with bats, it’s too much. If they want to make a difference, if they want to work for a strong woman, and fight for womens rights? Then I think they need to turn in their diaper pins , say some prayers for the fighters that have been most effective against isis, perhaps speak to their legislative representatives about sending the Kurds some weaponry and supply help, and if they feel the need to be part of a group helping make the world a better place? I’m sure the Peshmerga would be glad to welcome them.

The amazing Media
The amazing Media

Ask for Media. They could use the help and these are strong women, fighting to free other women who have, and are living and dying in the hell of isis captivity. Who knows, maybe when the women of Peshmerga are done liberating the women in this war, they will go to Germany and help the women there.

One of these things is not like the other. That’s one of the female YPG fighters jumping over the fire.

Babies vs. Brass
Babies vs. Brass

Have at it. #RealFeminists

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There’s that cars=guns control comparison again

Gun control will prevail regardless of next president, says researcher
It doesn’t matter which candidate is elected the next leader of the free world next Tuesday, stricter gun control is inevitable — at least according to one onlooker.
[…]
Alpers notes that automobiles have endured decades of “evidence-based public health measures” with licensing and registration that didn’t lead to mass confiscation, an argument often presented by public health researchers. “Cars remain objects of maleness, power and freedom,” he says.

Cars = “maleness”? Tell that to my 4’11’ sister in her SUV.

Wait…

“Maleness…”

nissan-cube

I don’t think so. -psst!- Alpers, I don’t think autoeroticism” means what you seem to think it means. But what else should we expect from a victim disarming anti-gun “researcher” of dubious credentials.

Perhaps he’ll “man up” and come to America to personally implement that inevitable post-election gun control.

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Give me Land Lots of Land

I see a lot of stories daily about how carrying a concealed weapon has saved someone’s life, or the life of someone they love. These stories usually take place in a urban setting. It might be a fairly empty parking lot at 2200 or someone’s home, but most of the stories are more urban. I suppose that makes sense, more people.

But when many people think of the rural areas, they tend to think more of the tough, self-reliant type of folks, like Roy Rogers, the Cartwrights or Little House on the Prairie.

What set me down this thought path was a story I saw the other day and it reminded me of when I first moved to my current home, many, many years ago. I considered living places and found the pet deposit for two horses, a flock of chickens, four cats and three dogs was very spendy. I also am temperamentally unsuited to living in a city, so farm it was and I moved from a smaller farm to this one. When I would go to the barn to do chores I took all the dogs with me, family outing as it were. Not long after I had lived here I was coming back to the house from the barn and a man I had never seen was standing near the stock gate. Not a dog had barked, the wind must have been blowing the other direction. Nothing happened, he had heard from someone that I might be someone to talk to about training a horse. But it made me very aware of my vulnerability. No matter what else was going on in my life, this was something I needed to address. I didn’t really know any of my neighbors yet, so most people that stopped by would have been “strangers”. It was long before concealed carry laws or castle doctrine laws were in effect. It’s not that I didn’t have tools, I did. I needed to have them where they could be used. A .357 is dandy, unless it’s in the house, so I started doing things differently. But while laws weren’t in place to protect me, I could get access to the tools that would allow me to protect myself. Some states have laws protecting you only in your home or car, some, anyplace you legally have a right to be including any place on your property, not just your home.

So how did I get to thinking back all those years ago? I saw a story about yet another Jewish farmer in Israel who might be facing charges for shooting an Arab. I will never say farmers in America have it easy. I’ve known better since I was two. But farmers in Israel have a whole different set of dangers. The arabs and bedouins there cut fence, steal livestock, kill livestock, ruin orchards, poison guard dogs, attack the farmers and their families and sometimes kill them. Sadly, sometimes the government forces that are tasked with protecting the farmers seem to favor protecting the arab farmers. Whether it is yet another example of trying not to offend the world, or the police just don’t want to bother with it, I don’t know. Some farmers have been driven off their land, some have had to give up raising livestock, but it is most certain that many farmers in Israel face challenges and dangers that we over here do not face on a daily basis. The case that had been going on was of a farmer that had three arabs show up to steal his truck. He heard a noise and went outside, there they were with a metal bar and three to one odds. He fired in the air and was unaware that he had even hit one. When security forces finally showed up they found the body in a nearby field.

The mayor of the town defended the farmer, saying many such attacks occur during daily, and are repeated with no fear of reprisals. The mayor of the town thinks the U.S. has it right.

“Sunday’s shooting in Beit Elazri was justified,” Naim concludes. “It was an act of self-defense, and prevented innocent people from getting hurt. Every thief must know that he might die. It must be anchored in law, just as in the cradle of democracy, the United States, where every citizen has the right to self-defense of his body and his property, including the shooting of trespassers.”

I don’t know that we shoot trespassers all that much, but his point that we should have the right to defend ourselves, and criminals know we have the right and ability to defend ourselves, and that should slow them down some. Unless you live in a state with a lot of liberals where ever criminal life is sacred, yours not so much. This is made possible by electing liberal politicians because they think rights come from them, not G-d.

Farmers have gone to jail for defending themselves against four to one odds, for example Shai Dromi. While he was acquitted on manslaughter charges he was convicted of having an illegal weapon. It was his father’s. The good thing that came of the mess was it did start to make people aware of what the farmers face on a daily basis.

Now happily the farmer accused this time, has been cleared by the police of any wrong doing, so he won’t be spending time in jail.

Another good thing that came out of this is MKs Amir Ohana and Eitan Broshi submitted a petition that called for a emergency meeting to discuss the issue of self-defense in rural areas. Hopefully more than discussion will come of it. Since MK Ohana is involved, I am kind of thinking something more will.

Another thing I found very interesting was comments by Dr. Jodi Broder, Head of the Clinical Social Law program. I’m the one that put some of this in bold, not Dr. Broder.

Dr. Broder explained why, in his view, proactive self-defense is justified: “We, as citizens, gave the State all the rights over our defense and our property, under the assumption that it would uphold those values, but what happens when the State doesn’t defend its citizens?” he asked. In such a reality, he asserts, the right of a citizen to defend himself and his property returns to him.

Broder qualifies this assertion, however, noting, “not under every circumstance, but within the parameters of self-defense. You are allowed to defend yourself when there is an immediate danger to your life or property. In such a reality, when nobody else is around to defend you and you react in a proportional manner, not in order to punish but only to defend; when the burglar is endangering me or another or our property, I am allowed to defend as long as immediate action is required and the State is not present to supply this defense.”

In response to the question of whether there is an ethical problem with the fact that the same State that does not supply defense for citizens also limits citizens’ ability to defend themselves, Broder replied, “It is impossible to live in a situation in which there are no rules and each man is his own lawmaker. A burglar also has rights which we, as a state, choose to uphold. You may defend, but not punish.

“One of the problems in the State is that the government does not supply adequate defense of property in certain communities, and people feel existential danger and danger to their property; we may see reactions that seem disproportionate at first glance, but when you consider that the Police are probably not coming, and there’s nobody who’s going to help, and it’s my property and my life, the picture changes.”

First, I don’t think we should ever give over our rights to protect ourselves, I’m not suggesting we do so. I also find it interesting that the Israelis are allowed to use force when the criminal is stealing things. In America it’s usually only to defend life. Of course what they are stealing may well affect your livelihood, but I find this variance interesting as well. Second and I think this applies to any of us, the prosecutor in their nice warm, well lit office, reading over the police report as they thoughtfully sip their fresh cup of coffee is going decide someone’s future, or lack of one. They will decide if your response was proportional or not. Consider having someone like Kathleen Kane as the prosecutor. Kane was a Bloomberg backed anti-gun candidate. YESH! But I also see how his comments could apply to gun free zones, they chose to forbid us the ability to defend ourselves, then they have chosen that responsibility. An old discussion, I know. I’m not talking burger joints, I’m thinking more like hospitals, government buildings. Places of worship are targets as well, but I think their response to how they wish to handle these things has more autonomy, but I could be wrong. But back to the prosecutor, you have a person in their nice office, possibly who has never been in a rural area deciding what is going to happen to you based on what has already happened to you, when you were all alone at 0300 in the middle of a field.

And realistically? Whether a field in the middle of the night or supermarket parking lot during the day, it doesn’t matter much. If something bad happens, and you “need” someone else to come help you there is a good chance that may not happen in time.

Just some things to think about as election day looms and you might have a chance to ask your state candidates some questions.

Another thing that popped up as I was poking around to see how this particular farmer came out was that some of the farmers in 2008 began to band together forming modern versions of HaShomer. It was founded by Yoel Zilberman when his father told him he was going bankrupt and going to have to leave the farm. HaShomer HaChadash, The New Guardians, was formed to help protect the farmers and allow them to continue farming in a financially sound manner. It is now a big active program.

Founder Yoel Zilberman, can tell you about it. It’s a very interesting story. Subtitled, luckily.

So thinking back on when I first moved here, and looking at the dangers these farmers in Israel face daily I’ve had some thoughts. Urban or rural, we all face dangers. The dangers these Israeli farmers face are more like the things someone living in the gun free zone utopia of Chicago would face, with just about as much help from the system at times. But then any raw milk or organic farmer may have faced the same dangers in America. Only instead of from Bedouins, from a alphabet soup of state and federal agencies. The big difference is, when it’s the farmer rather than the Chicago resident that faces the danger it can affect a lot of people. The farmers produce food, and when that doesn’t happen it causes problems for a lot of people. The Israeli farmers are getting help now, not from the government so much, as regular people all pitching in to help. It’s sort of like a program we had in America for a while called “Ranch Rescue”. But the foundation of all these programs was the same as the old days of the Cartwrights and Roy Rogers. It was people pitching in to help each other to over come challenges and threats. People that weren’t relying on the system, but each other. As the weather changes and we prepare for storms knowing our neighbors and having plans and ways we could help each other might be a very good idea. We’ve had hurricanes in one part of the country, we will have snow and ice coming for other parts of the country, and then we move into tornado and rain and flood season. Sometimes you know there’s bad weather headed your way, and sometimes, it’s just there.

And because I like to end with something a little nice, here’s a short little scene from Eish Kodesh. It really is beautiful isn’t it?

https://www.facebook.com/398799110143354/videos/1192120390811218/

 

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Chag Sukkot Samach! And GET….

Or חג סוכות שמח

Sukkot is the last of the three pilgrimage festivals. The other two are Pesach and Shavuot. Those are the festivals that the Torah commands to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Following Yom Kippur, which is a very solemn holiday, Sukkot is joyous. Sukkot is commanded in the Torah in Vayikra, Leviticus 23.

33 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths 1 to the Lord. 35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 36 For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work.

And

39 On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40 And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your G-d seven days. 41 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your G-d.”

Now, about this business of dwelling in booths when G-d got brought the children out of Egypt. For a time, G-d also had a booth, the tent of meeting, the Tabernacle. It was during this time while they were dwelling in the Sinai that the Ark of the Covenant was created. After the children were in the land that G-d lead them, they set up the Tabernacle and the Ark. In Shiloh. And there it remained until the first Temple was built in Jerusalem. It was to Shiloh back then that the people journeyed three times a year with their offerings. It was there that for 369 years in the 11th and 12th century B.C.E. that Jewish spiritual life was centered.

In 957 B.C.E. King Solomon began construction of the Temple on the site chosen by his Father, King David. David has chosen the spot in Jerusalem where Avraham had been prepared to offer up his son. Before King David ruled from Jerusalem, he was anointed king and ruled from Hebron. For the next 400 or so years Jews were able to go to the Temple in Jerusalem. That ended in 597 B.C.E. when Nebuchadnezzar began the siege of Jerusalem. Little point of interest about Hebron, it is the site of the oldest Jewish community in the world

So, the command is to go to Jerusalem for the festival of Sukkot. The Temple, Beit HaMikdash has been there since 957 B.C.E. And it was on that spot that the Second Temple was built.

Islam was created in the 7th century. C.E.

And this concludes the history portion of our column.

Back-story is good though.

So it is with great shock, I tell you…..forget that. There is no shock on this end. Not a shred. But I will still tell you UNESCO has decided that there is NO connection to the Jewish people on the Temple Mount, Beit HaMikdash. And the Uninformed Nitwits Erroneously Spouting Complete Ordure, (UNESCO), wrote up their little proposal in which they said the Temple Mount AND the Western Wall are EXCLUSIVELY a muslim holy site. They put their Jewish Hebrew names in brackets, making it seem as though it was not valid, just a claim someone made.

Do you ever feel like you just woke up in the middle of a Twilight Zone episode?

The response was pretty quick from some. Most Israeli politicians responded at once. In America Senator Ted Cruz and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen were joined by Jerrold Nadler in sending a letter from many in Congress to the UNESCO executive board condemning the decision and urging opposition. And to get their heads out, never mind, to get their heads on straight. While most of the world was outraged the F.A., the Falestinian Authority expressed pleasure with the announcement. No shock there.

Let me ask a question here, if mohammerhead tied his horse to the Western Wall, which is a retaining wall from the JEWISH temple, where do muslims think the wall came from he tied his horse to? Apparently mohammerhead had never taught his horses to ground tie.

So, if this piece of ordure resolution had been allowed to stand, let me tell you what it would look like. Currently on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, Jews and Christians are not allowed to pray. Only muslims are allowed to pray there. There are ten gates for muslims to enter. Only one for Jews and Christians, and you will stand in line to be allowed in, you can be thrown off for any or no reason. Because the Al Aqsa mosque is located there. Why?

Over the centuries, the Muslims who eventually took control of Jerusalem built two mosques on the Temple Mount, the site of the two Jewish Temples. (This was no coincidence; it is a common Islamic custom to build mosques on the sites of other people’s holy places.) Since any attempt to level these mosques would lead to an international Muslim holy war (jihad) against Israel, the Temple cannot be rebuilt in the foreseeable future.

Now you understand a bit more why the muslims wanted to build a mosque on the site of the twin towers, at ground zero?

Now, at the Western Wall, which is under Israeli control, Jews, Christians and muslims are allowed to just walk up and pray. You might have to wait for a spot to get to the wall, but that is determined by how many people are there, and how long it takes them to walk away from a spot. People just kind of line up behind people standing far enough back as to be respectful.

For a bit more on the political climate at the Temple Mount this is a good article.

But let us go back even a bit further. Let’s take a look at Hebron, shall we? Where King David ruled before he relocated to Jerusalem. In Hebron you will find the Cave of Machpelah. It is the world’s most ancient Jewish site and the second holiest place for the Jewish people. The cave is divided into three rooms, Jews and Christians have no access to the largest room except 10 days a year. Would you like to go to the cave? You will only be able to go with armed Israeli guards to protect you. You see, the muslims, the pieceful Falestinians have control of this site as well.

Now let’s go back a little further, to Shiloh. Shiloh is located in Shomron. And Shomron and Judea are what some people call the “West Bank”. It is not the West Bank, it is Judea and Shomron, or Samaria if you will. It is not “occupied territory”. It is in Israel, and there are Jews living in Israel, and some of them live in Judea and Shomron, Samaria. Caroline Glick had a column out recently regarding, basically, Israeli sovereignty. I don’t know of any other country in the world that has to justify building homes in their country. They do not have to justify to the UN, the US, the EU or anyone else when they build homes, they just do so. Part of Caroline’s column pointed out that Israel is going to have to change how it looks at things, and how it approaches solutions.

For a generation Israel’s governments have rejected the idea that we can succeed if we resist the UN. It is time that we abandon this defeatist attitude and work diligently to broker deals with member states to reduce the room for Obama and Clinton, if she is elected, to maneuver against us in the Security Council.

And

Over the past eight years of the Obama Administration, US condemnations of Israeli construction beyond the 1949 armistice lines, including in Jerusalem, have become steadily more obsessive.

This has been part of an unambiguous policy to delegitimize Israel in America. Until Obama entered the White House in 2009, there was a clear difference between the attitudes of Europe and the attitude of the United States towards us. Under Obama we have witnessed the Europeanization of American attitudes towards the State of Israel.

So far, Obama’s efforts have only been successful in the Democratic Party. Party activists have worked hand in hand with anti-Israel movements, most notably the BDS movement. In addition, several Democratic lawmakers have shown their willingness to abandon Israel, and that number is growing.

And it’s working. I recently worked a Ethnic event where many countries come together in a park, we have food sometimes, and sometimes our dance group comes and performs, usually some goodies from Israel to sell, maps, brochures and other information we give out and we answer questions. This was our first time to have some of our goods from Lev HaOlam. I was sitting there minding the table and watching people when a lady came up to the table, took a look at me, and our table and asked “how many mooooslims go to your church”? You ask the girl with the big Magen David on her shirt how many mooooslims (that’s how she said it, drawing out the ooooo) go to her “church”? Lady, you are a bit confused on your religions aren’t you? Told her none, moooooslims go to mosques. I explained this is a cultural event, not a religious event. There were people there from many countries. The point is the country the culture, our table was sponsored by the JCC, not a particular Synagogue. She then informed me that Israel is a mooooslim country. I kid you not. I informed her “It is the ONE JEWISH state in the world, and it IS JEWISH”. I perhaps was a bit adamant. She said there were more moooooslims living there than Jews. No, there aren’t.

This is a battle, and it’s not about “co-existing”. If you think it is re-read the part about how other religions that have ties to the Temple Mount, Har HaBeit, are allowed to worship there. They aren’t. Read the part about Hebron again, how others can go see the holy sites without armed guards, they can’t. You can not “co-exist” with someone that wants to wipe you out.

So here it is, Sukkot, one of the three pilgrimages when we are suppose to go to Har HaBeit. And UNESCO says it’s not Jewish.

They did back off, apparently even the Director made a statement.

UNESCO chairman Michael Verbes said, “I am aware of the connection between Israel and Jerusalem, and I will never deny it. Jerusalem’s Old City and its walls are a UNESCO world heritage site since 1982, and have been recorded as being holy to three religions. This is our stance on the issue, and it trumps all decisions that the principal committee has recently made.”

The UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova also spoke out against it, though not very strongly. Even this tepid defense of Israel has earned her death threats. She now had additional protection.

But in this article lies a key to part of the problem.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett was unimpressed by Bokova’s statement, however, saying it was not enough.

“The Al Aqsa Mosque [or] Al-Haram al-Sharif, the sacred shrine of Muslims, is also the Har HaBayit – or Temple Mount – whose Western Wall is the holiest place in Judaism,” Bokova said in a statement Friday, according to Haaretz.

No, no it isn’t Naftali. Har HaBeit is. The Western Wall is just the closest we can get to Har HaBeit right now because Moshe Dayan handed it over to the muslims. And that’s why we can’t go there for Sukkot.

But this is about far more than Sukkot, this is about a world that is buying a historically false narrative that Jews didn’t live in Israel. It’s about erasing the past so it’s easier to erase the present. It’s about attacks on Jews living in their historic homelands of Judea and Samaria and those attacks being excused by the world, the mainstream media and the democrat party as “justified” or perhaps understandable because they lived in “settlements”. They lived in the “occupied territories”. So, democratic party, liberals, media, UN, EU and UNESCO, where exactly is it you think Jews should be allowed to live. Because the same attacks in Judea, Shomron and Hebron are being carried out in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Yafo. Where is it that you think we should be allowed to build our Sukkah?

Crickets.???

Well, here’s the deal. Sukkahs are up, prayers are being said, meals are being eaten and conversation is taking place. It’s a joyous festival. So as far as UNESCO, US liberals and democrats, EU and UN? Chag Sukkot Samach, now get out of my Sukkah!

Bibi & barry discuss Sukkot
Bibi & barry discuss Sukkot
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It’s The Mindset

I watched the documentary Claire told us about, Defying the nazis: The Sharps’ War. Fascinating show and fascinating couple! At first glance, they would seem to be a rather ordinary couple, but they were far from it. They had smarts, intuition, courage and could think on the move. Those attributes saved their lives and the lives of many others. I would say that they were rare people. Interestingly, to me, they did not think they were rare at all, and that anyone in their position would have done the same things, according to their daughter Martha. They are now listed in Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.

And Claire also pointed out that the NY Slimes article article is an attempt to get people to see the refusal of Americans to embrace those fleeing the middle East as the same situation as the refusal of many nations to accept Jews fleeing the holocaust.

It is not.

It is not at all. The mindset is the critical factor here. Actually the mindset of different groups.

In this video talking about Zionism and Theodor Herzl, about 11 minutes, 30 seconds in the lecturer talks about how Jews handle attacks against them, first is the fee or flee, they attempt to pay off the officials persecuting the communities. If that is unsuccessful they flee. At this point he talking mainly about the Jews of Russia and the persecution they faced under different Czars. But the part I want to bring out comes at 14:08 in, the difference between immigrants and refugees. The first of the Russian Jews to come were the immigrants. Yes, they were fleeing the pogroms of Russia, but some fleeing went to South America, some to Europe, some to Canada and some to the U.S. Those chose to come here, and they wanted to assimilate to some degree. They wanted to understand and fit into the culture of the U.S. Some of those chose not to speak Yiddish, to not teach it to their children. They said we’re Americans now, we will speak English and we will learn how they live and do things in America. Not to say they gave up their Judaism, but just that they chose to make a place for themselves in American society. The refugees on the other hand, those that came after WWII had a different mindset. They did not so much chose to come here as flee the devastation after WWII. I resent coming to America, it’s a safe haven for me, but I didn’t want to come here. They believed I won’t change for America, America is going to have to change for me. The lecturer said he was painting with a broad brush, but in general, that was the difference in attitudes and mindset. It only goes to about 16 minutes in, so it’s not a long part, but I do think it’s crucial to realize that there is quite possibly a different mindset in the “refugees” coming to America than what you would think.

Another difference is, when the Jews came to America whether as immigrants or refugees, their aim was not to force Americans to accept their religion or pay jizya and live as dhimmis but to live and practice their religion in safety. This is a whole different mindset. I am not saying every muslim that comes into this country has that goal in mind, only the devout ones as that is what the Koran commands.

The European countries are seeing quite an increase in sexual violence towards women and children, they think it can be stopped with wristbands and posters that say “Don’t touch me”. And that is working out about as well as one would expect. I wanted to get a bullet company to engrave “Don’t touch me” on the bottom of a bullet because I thought that would be more effective than the wristband. But I digress, the mindset and the way muslims are raised is that women are property and if they aren’t dressed modestly according to muslim standards they are fair game because they are sluts and asking for it. Daniel Greenfield does an excellent job of explaining how this works in this article. Your mindset and what you’ve been taught all your life doesn’t change because you are now living in Baltimore and not Baghdad. The leftists dangerously misunderstand that mindset.

Denial reigns supreme. After the latest round of bombing on the East Coast headlines from the defunct media read things like “motive a mystery”. To who? Only the American media, not anyone else.

Wellllll, that’s not exactly true.

A letter signed by 43 rabbis in Texas called on the state’s governor to remain in the U.S. refugee resettlement program.

“At this moment, with the number of refugees and displaced persons at its highest in recorded history, it is more important than ever for Texas to protect and welcome refugees,” read the letter sent Wednesday, hours after Gov. Greg Abbot announced that he was withdrawing his state from the program over concerns about the lack of effective security screening of the refugees.

And that is a very dangerous miscalculation of the mindset. Because it is entirely possible, if not likely that the mindset of those “refugees” is very different than what the Rabbis think it is.

But don’t take my word for it. You might lend an ear to what Alejandro Mayorkas, the Deputy Homeland Security Secretary has to say though.

Alejandro Mayorkas, the Deputy Homeland Security Secretary, speaking Wednesday to the Orthodox Union’s annual leadership mission to Washington, said rising extremism in the United States and its threat to the Jewish community keeps him awake at night.

Now while he is talking about people becoming radicalized, he does also talk about incoming threats.

And the incoming may be more than you think. While obama’s goal for this year was 10,000 “refugees” he has already exceeded that, and the year isn’t over.

If you don’t want to look at the security threat posed, you might look at the financial impact for a second. Obama Cuts 2.6 Billion From Veterans While Allocating 4.5 Billion To Syrian Migrants Moving To America.

It also might be worth considering the effect of their mindset on the American voting outcome. The New American program of barry’s has been in effect for a almost a year now. Neither of these articles are long, but both are worth reading.

Mayors in cahoots with Obama on ‘new American’ voters

Judicial Watch Sues Obama Administration for Records about Citizenship Push for Immigrants

I realize the concept is kindness for those in need, to help the less fortunate. But in a April 2016 column by Dr. Tsvi Sadan in Israel Today titled “Love Your Enemy?” he points out the flaw in this.

And yet, nowhere does it suggest that one is supposed to aid an enemy whose intention is to kill you. The reason behind G-d’s order to to kill the Midianites (Numbers Bəmidbar, 25:17) is found in their desire to annihilate Israel. In this case, loving these people, or helping them in any way, would have amounted to collective suicide for Israel.

He then points out that while Syria is a sworn enemy of Israel, Israel provides free medical care to wounded Syrians. This is “loving your enemy”. But it is only possible because Syria no longer proposes a significant threat to Israel. He states

“The same kind of help could not be given if Syria was killing Israelis on a daily basis. In such a case, Israel would be obligated to kill those who were attempting to kill her. This is the basic human right of self-defense. “

There are a lot of different mindsets in play here. Those that just want to help the “poor refugees” may be dangerously naïve thinking that they will be grateful and assimilate into American society. That has not proven to be the case in Europe or Great Britain at all. That’s the “it can’t happen to me” or “it can’t happen here”. Yeah, it can. Then there’s the political mindset, of not caring what it does to the country as long as it helps my party no matter who it hurts. Not in terms of finances, crime, culture, living conditions, or unemployment. Companies get tax breaks I understand, to hire immigrants instead of US workers. Just import them and register them to vote.

When the Sharps brought and sent the Jews from Prague to America they had a system in place. They matched those they smuggled out with people and jobs in the US. They knew the people they were dealing with and the people they were sending here. This in no way can be compared to barry’s massive invasion of people for which there is no effective vetting process. But in the mindset of the liberal NY Slimes reporter, it is the same.

This is one of those things like the handing over of the internet that is irreversible. The toothpaste ain’t going back in the tube, the bell can’t be un-rung. And for the record? My mindset is I am not wearing a burka, hijab or niqab! Isn’t it interesting that at this time the democratic party is increasing their howls for gun control? I wonder what their mindset could be?

The Terrorists are coming, disarm?
The Terrorists are coming, disarm?

 

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Dear World

I’ve decided to try to be creative. I made ya’ll a movie. The reading was part of a radio program and then I spent time collecting pictures I thought would go well with each part and tried to make the timing on the photo and the reading come out right. Yeah, I love ya’ll that much. So this is my first, and possibly only, multimedia video column.

Not long after I heard this recitation as part of Walter Bingham’s radio show I heard about some Jewish leaders in Rhode Island who are lobbying some of the pro-self defense legislators in the state to make it easier for criminals to attack defenseless people. They felt that if good, law-abiding citizens did not have the means to defend themselves and criminals were aware of that, then crime rates would surely drop. That children would be safer as they watched their parents attacked, unable to have the means to mount an effective defense of themselves and their children. Well, perhaps I’m paraphrasing a bit, a little.

But I was sad to hear this. Like I said, after having heard the recitation, and hearing the cries for more defenseless victims I can only shake my head. There are those that think they can find logic in why some are attacked. Dafna Meir was attacked because she lived in Otniel. No, she was attacked because she was Jew living in Israel. The horrible photos are from the Har Nof Synagogue massacre. Not to mention Hevron. There have been attacks on Churches, Synagogues and Jewish Community Centers in the U.S. And law enforcement have managed to stop some before they happen. I read a column that says ISIS now has a hit list of 15,000 people in the U.S. One entire church is on it. Some of the people have been notified by the FIB FBI that they are targets, many have not and the list is not publicly available. I guess what with covering for Hillary and all, it takes away from the time available to let people know they are targeted by ISIS. In the article it talks about an attack that was recently thwarted at a large church in Detroit.

But as I listened to the speaker, and thought about the images I could put with the reading I can’t help but wonder if those community leaders calling for defenseless victims shouldn’t do a brief review of history, at the least a brief review of Israeli history. Seems like there is an old saying. Something about “Those who ignore the past….”

So, without further ado, your movie….סרת

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To Scream or To Weep?

I’m not sure which. I feel like doing both.

Let me tell you about just a couple days of last week.

On July 1st:

there was an attempted stabbing attack in Hevron at the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

An Arab terrorist tried to stab people by the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hevron before being shot by nearby IDF and Border Police forces.

The terrorist reportedly approached a Border Police post at an entrance to the site and pulled out a knife before she was shot. No one else was harmed.

The pieceful Falestinians rioted at the Qalandia checkpoint.

Three Border Police officers were lightly wounded by Muslim rioters at Qalandia checkpoint near Jerusalem on Friday afternoon.

The officers were struck by rocks hurled by Arab rioters, who were waiting for permission to enter Israeli territory from the Palestinian Authority, on their way to the Temple Mount’s Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Sort of like black lives matter in Columbia MO. Nothing says we are friends, and mean no harm and just want to have a reasonable conversation or go worship at our holy place (filled with rocks and rockets) like stopping a car in a parade or a riot.

The day before on 30th June:

Two people were stabbed at a market in Netanya

Two people have been seriously wounded in a stabbing attack in the coastal Israeli city of Netanya.

Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics who arrived at the scene in Netanya market said they found a 30-year-old woman in serious condition, and a second victim – a man in his 40s – with moderate injuries.

Both victims were given emergency first-aid treatment before being evacuated to Laniado Hospital.

The terrorist was shot dead at the scene, and was later identified as a resident of the nearby Palestinian Authority city of Tulkarem.

The day before that, on 29th June, under the “you’ve got to be kidding me” category:

Nine Israeli Activists had to be rescued from Ramallah

A group of nine Israeli leftist activists on Wednesday evening had to be rescued from the Palestinian Arab city of Ramallah, after locals attacked one of their vehicles.

The Israelis reportedly entered the city of their own volition to celebrate the nightly breaking of the Ramadan fast with local Arabs. Locals who noticed them hurled rocks and firebombs at one of their cars, which caught fire.

Something to chew on for those who sincerely believe in their “Coexist” bumper stickers. But yeah, this one is funny. No one died.

On July 1st, this is one of the two more horrifying stories I’ve for you:

Father murdered in front of is children

One person was killed and three others wounded in a shooting attack at the Adorayim Junction south of Hevron in Judea.

The fatality has been identified as 40-year-old Michael “Micki” Markrom HY’’D the nearby town of Otniel, who was traveling in his car with his family when it was targeted.

His wife Chavi was seriously wounded in the attack, and was evacuated to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital with multiple gunshot wounds to her upper body.

Two other family members were also wounded in the attack. Paramedics say in addition to the mother of the family, they treated a 13-year-old girl in moderate-to-serious condition suffering from gunshot wounds to her upper body, and a 15-year-old boy who was lightly wounded, presumably from the crash.

In case you don’t remember Otniel is where Dafna Meir HY’’D lived, she was stabbed to death in the doorway of her home, fighting to save her children. And the attack resembled closely to one that occurred last November when Rabbi Yaakov Litman HY’’D and his son Netanel HY’’D were murdered in that attack, as they were traveling with their family.

But for the pieceful Falestinians the activities weren’t over. They attacked the funeral procession.

Even as the funeral procession for Rabbi Michael Mark, terror victim, wound toward Jerusalem, locals would not leave them in peace: Arabs threw a stone from a passing car, striking one of the buses of mourners.

Thirteen year old Hallel-Yaffa Ariel HY’’D was murdered in her bed, in her home. Hallel was an amazing dancer who had preformed just the night before in Jerusalem. Also wounded in the attack was a 31 year old security guard from the town’s security squad. The security squad responded very quickly to the alert that the perimeter had been breached. The terrorist had locked himself in Hallel’s bedroom so he could stab her without being interrupted. He then lay in wait for security squads. Hallel’s father was one of them that came through the door to find his daughter. The terrorist then attacked a 31 year old member of the security squad. The young man is going to lose his eye, but he will live. The terrorist was then killed by the security squad. The young man’s wife works as a volunteer on the MDA ambulance and she ended up being on the ambulance to ride into the hospital with him. This interview is well worth watching. I love this woman’s spirit, and she tells how she happened to be in the ambulance and gives a report on her husband.

I can hear it now, you can’t you just can’t blame a group for the actions of one kid! Very true, I’m not.

Mother of Kiryat Arba terrorist proud of ‘martyr’ son:

“My son is a hero,” she says. “My son died as a martyr defending Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa Mosque. Praise be to God, he is united with the martyrs before him, and he is not better than them. God willing, all of them will follow this path, all the youth of Palestine.”

According to friends and relatives of Dipsh*t (I’m NOT giving his name), he had posted a slew of Facebook statuses in the weeks before the attack expressing his desire to die as a martyr. In some of them, he said he wanted to avenge his cousin, who was killed as he carried out a car-ramming attack near Kiryat Arba. One soldier was lightly injured in that attack, before other troops shot and killed the attacker.

Apparently this sort of thing does NOT violate Facebook community standards. Only pro-Israel, Conservative and some Second Amendment stuff violates the sensitive Facebook community standards.

Army arrests sister of Hallel’s killer

Like her mother, the murderer’s sister also publicly praised her brother’s act, and called for others to follow in his footsteps and kill “the accursed Jews.”

IDF arrests brothers of Hallel’s killer

During the night IDF forces arrested two brothers of 17-year-old Dipsh*t, the terrorist who murdered Hallel-Yaffa Ariel in Kiryat Arba.

Not exactly an aberrancy is old Dipsh*t?

So how do kids, a lot of them, who grow up to be adults and then parents turn out this evil and deluded?

One choice is the appeasement crowd.

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last. ~~Winston Churchill

I would put the liberals and those who call the parts of Israel known as Judea and Samaria “occupied territory” in this group. Failing to learn from the withdrawal of the Gaza strip they think the peace will come if Israel just gives in.

How this works in real life.

Only muslims are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. Non muslims are not allowed to pray. Now this little drama plays out in variations every year on Ram-a-damn. The muslims store rockets, Molatov cocktails, firebombs, stones in the holy mosque. Then when anyone other than a muslim attempts to go to the Temple Mount the muslims pitch a hissy and attack them screaming, yelling and assaulting them with whatever potential weapons of murder they have stashed in the holy mosque. Then non-muslims are banned from the Temple Mount. Hissy fit success. So, this year as in the past, Netanyahu ordered the police to give in to the arab hissy fit and barred non-muslims despite the fact the Police had held their own and visitors were still being allowed up. In an immediate spirit of cooperation engendered by this cave in of principles, the pieceful Falestinians moved over and began to throw stones down at those in prayer at the Western Wall, the Kotel, onJune 28th. In real life, the appeasement thing doesn’t work well.

There’s the ever apparent media bias. And

CNN omits Judea and Samaria in report on terror

CNN publishes updated map of places in which terror attacks took place this month, fails to include attacks on Judea and Samaria.

Well, the UN chief Ban Ki Moon has been in Israel, maybe that’s helped?

Falestinian schools hide Judenrein maps during Moon’s visit. Then denies they were ever hidden. The maps showing no state of Israel, only Falestine. Of course UNRWA denies they have anything to do with any maps. Just because there is no longer an Israel on the map, does that really mean so much? UNRWA creating angry, entitlement, hate filled children for ages. Encouraging them to hate Judeo-Christian values and the people. Pretty much like the average university here.

Well, but what about Ban Ki’s visit? Help?

On June 29th–UN chief blasts ‘occupation’, calls Israel to work for peace. Not so much.

June 30th– The UN’s Middle East Quartet: As terror strikes Israel, Quartet set to criticize ‘settlements’

Settlements, that’s Judea and Samaria to humans. The UN doesn’t fit that category very often. The UN doesn’t think Jews should have houses being built in Israel.

Nor does the US State Department. From 6 July.

State Department blasts Israeli ‘systematic land seizures’

The State Department on Tuesday issued a scathing condemnation of Israel’s plans to build new housing units in Maale Adumim and in Jerusalem.

“If it’s true, this report would be the latest step in what seems to be a systematic process of land seizures, settlement expansions, and legalizations of outposts that is fundamentally undermining the prospects for a two-state solution,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby of the plans, which were announced Sunday following last week’s terrorist attacks against Israelis in Judea and Samaria.

July 4th— Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon: European applause killed Hallel-Yaffa Ariel

Danon drew a clear line between the horrific murder of Hallel-Yaffa Ariel last week and the speech of Mahmoud Abbas to the European Parliament a week earlier.

In that speech, Abbas revived an old blood libel and claimed that some rabbis had called on the government of Israel to poison Palestinian water supplies. Instead of immediate condemnation, the elected European representatives of democratic nations responded with loud applause.

Danon writes, “We were all shocked. How can he say that? Lie to the European Parliament like that? This is a blood libel! But that was not the worst. We well know the constant lies and incitement of Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority. Every morning we again see Abbas’ praise for terrorists through the Palestinian education system and state-run television.”

“But the main thing on this occasion was not the incitement, but the applause.”

Danon claims that such constant incitement turns teenage Palestinians into murderous monsters. In the twisted mind of a 17-year-old terrorist, the claim that rabbis want to poison the wells is justification enough to kills a young girl in her bed. But that does not necessarily mean that he will carry out such an attack.

“But when a monster like this then hears the applause of the Members of Parliament, his perverted ideology is confirmed by those who should be the most moral in the world. [He thinks that] if they cheer like this, they will also cheer for me.”

And not only that, they get paid. Yes indeed folks, the PA pays it’s terrorists to kills Jews, and whoever else is handy. If the IDF demolishes their house? No biggie the PA pays for a newer, bigger, fancier one to be built. This doesn’t seem to bother Ban Ki or the Meddle East Quartet. Is there any other country on the face of the earth that the UN feels so compelled to try and dictate policy?

So, where does the money come from that the PA uses to pay terrorists? Where does the power and encouragement backing it and Hamass originate?

Youth or Terrorist
Youth or Terrorist

You gave it to them. You and your family and friends. You gave up eating out once a week and paying to have your car washed and did it yourself at home. You gave up that cable sports channel, bigger cellphone data plan so that you could pay Dipsh*t to kill little 13 year old Hallel in her bed.

Do you think I’m making this up?

June 30thDear Diaspora Jews: Your money is killing us

But please do not simply make do with a deluge of angry or sad social media posts. You can act. In fact, you have a moral duty to act and not stand idly by as the blood of your brothers and sisters continues to flow.

Because the bloodthirsty terrorist who murdered young Hallel was, at least in some part, indoctrinated and encouraged courtesy of your own tax dollars – or pounds, or euros.

The Palestinian Authority is funded almost entirely by state donors, its most generous benefactors including none other than the United States of America, and a host of European states, chief among them the United Kingdom.

It is by now the worst-kept secret in the international aid industry (and what a lucrative industry that is) that a large portion of that money goes towards not just incitement and indoctrination – whether in schools and mosques, or official PA youth clubs and sporting events – but directly into the pockets of Palestinian terrorists and their families.

Your tax money is essentially bankrolling the murderers of our children.

And they’re not even shy about it.

Just recently, at an iftar meal to break the Ramadan fast in Ramallah, PA “Prime Minister” Rami Hamdallah vowed to increase spending to support “heroic” terrorists. This support, he boasted, included increasing the monthly wage paid to every terrorist imprisoned for carrying out an attack, as well as upping the cash prize awarded to every Palestinian family which offers up one of its children as a “martyr.”

The family of Hallel’s killer, 17-year-old Dipsh*t of Bani Naim, near Hevron, will also be paid by the PA for his despicable actions. With money from your back pocket. Just know that.

But that is truer still when it comes to the Palestinian Authority. Your governments fund them directly.

So take action, right now. Write to your local member of parliament or congress; to your ministers and prime ministers and presidents, and ask for accountability. Ask them to cut off funding to the Palestinian Authority until it can prove that not a penny will go towards funding and encouraging terrorism.

Write to your communal leaders, and to your local pro-Israel organizations, and demand they take the lead in rallying and lobbying for accountability and an end to your tax money funding Palestinian terrorism.

Spend at least as long as you took to vent on social media to write to your elected representatives and to others who can make a difference.

Please. It’s the least you could do.

Even the NY Post blasted the use of US taxpayer dollars being used to kill Israeli soldiers and children on July 1st.

“Meanwhile, hundreds of millions flow to the PA from the West, including America. Which means US tax dollars are, in effect, going to pay for terrorist acts,” adding “And here you thought we were fighting terror”.

The editorial board called upon congress to rescind funding for the Palestinian Authority, and thus “cut off US funding for Palestinian terror.”

“Congress should do all it can to curb the practice”.

“Sending US tax dollars to the PA, only to see them go to reward terror, is a moral obscenity.”

Look at the dates on these articles. All of this happened within a few days of each other.

A lot of this goes back to somethings many wise people have said. Rights come from G-d, not man. Moshe Feiglin talked about it in his interview and his recent webinar. Many Second Amendment people have pointed this out. We are our own first responders. Moshe said that he wanted Israelis to remember the real, original concept of freedom. I would like many Americans who have been indoctrinated otherwise to learn this truth. No matter how close the security squads, no matter how good, they may not get there in time. True freedom is Israel does what is best for Israel and is not dictated to by the UN, an anti-Israel US president or any Meddle East committee. No matter what Israel does she will not win their approval. They do not want to give their approval. They want her to live by their rules till she is obliterated. The same with US gun owners, peaceful law-abiding citizens just wanting to live their lives. The political parties, the NRA and other such type of Second Amendment organizations are willing to bargain and compromise our rights. You can’t appease these people. It will not work, and we will be in a deeper hole than we were before.

If Jews can not live safely in Israel as Jews, but instead are the target of US, EU & UK sponsored terrorism because they are Jews??? And this is what so many do not understand, or do not care about. This has nothing to do with territories, this has everything to do with the latest attempt at genocide. But no one wants to call it that. No one wants to admit that in this day and age such a thing could happen again. So heads are put under pillows, the media whitewashes, the politicians lie and excuse. And people bleed and die in their beds.

So much pain, sorrow and suffering. And we paid for it, we made it possible.

Do I scream or do I weep? Because my heart is breaking.

 

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Zehut, The Politics of Identity

by Sheila Stokes-Begley

When many people go to Israel, the want to see the historical sights. I do as well, especially military museums. There will most likely be a column on that. A lot of people want to eat the fabulous
food. Yes, me too. They want to shop, I’m SO there, especially when you talk about Yafo. They want to swim, did that. But what I really, really, really, really wanted to do, was interview Moshe Feiglin. At
which most tourist are probably saying “Excuse me?” But that was one of my very highest hopes for this trip. And I was successful.

I first learned about the former MK (Member of Knesset) when in response to something I had written my wonderfully kind team mate Y.B. sent me a portion of a Torah Thought from Mr. Feiglin. I loved it! I asked for more info and Y.B. told me who had written it and who he was. I did online research and signed up for the Manhigut Yehudite newsletter and was soon getting my own copies of Torah Thoughts included with each newsletter which I very much looked
forward to receiving. Each newsletter included Torah and politics. Does it get any better? Well, also a Dry Bones Cartoon. That’s pretty good too.

Last year I got to interview Mr. Feiglin by phone, and it was a great interview. This year it was in person. I feel very blessed.

So why my fascination? My respect first blossomed when he was writing articles calling for the Israeli government to make it easier for everyday Israelis to get weapons permits. Gun Control? Or Citizen Control?

With all that has been going on in Israel, I had a lot of questions for Mr. Feiglin. Especially since he along with the support of a lot of everyday people have founded a new political party. Zehut, which means “Identity”. Zehut is unusual in that they also allow people from places other than Israel to join. And with that I tell you I am a proud card carrying member. Well, I will be when my card gets here, but I am.

My first question was why form Zehut? Was it in response to the betrayal of leadership in politics? They campaign on one platform and then when elected turn and go another direction?

Feiglin: The average Israeli feels disenfranchised from their Jewish identity and the concept of a Jewish state. (I believe he said in a recent poll that 80% of Israelis identify as Jewish first, and as an Israeli second). The disenfranchisement started with the Oslo accords and now takes the form of things like a Judge appointed to the High Court who refused to sing HaTikvah, the Israeli national anthem after being sworn in. It shows in an army which is now refusing to allow soldiers to grow beards, “too much Jewish”. And very sadly when a Yad Vashem guide pointed out that the murder of Gil-Ad Shaer,16, Eyal Yifrah, 19, and Naftali Fraenkel,16 had occurred in Gush Etzion because they were Jewish. (That would seem evident to
me, but I guess political correctness can run amuck anywhere). Israel is a Jewish democratic state, but 10% controls the power and it is eroding Jewish values.

I have a few questions about everyday Israelis being allowed to carry weapons. Why are there areas where people are not allowed to have carry permits? A buddy moved from Jerusalem where he could carry, to Tel Aviv and now he can’t. He’s no less qualified in Tel Aviv. Yafo which suffered a terrorist attack is certainly within walking distance of Tel Aviv, I’ve done so! Why aren’t the military allowed to carry off duty, and why after people are out of the military can they not automatically be allowed to carry a weapon? As it turns out, the answer to all these questions are the same. Mr. Feiglin is very good at seeing the big picture and summing it up.

Feiglin: Because the concept of freedom is wrong. It should be the concept that the right of self- defense is G-d given! In Israel they believe that the right is given by the state. And if the state can give you the right to self defense, they can take that right away. In America they had the right concept, although they are losing the mindset. They believed anyone should be allowed to own guns unless they showed they were not to be trusted with them. (I pointed out that the UN does not believe self defense is a human right at all. Considering how anti-Israel the UN is, that is really not a good
combination). Zehut believes in planting in the Israeli mind the concept of true freedom. That everyone is responsible to defend their life, that of their family and the nation. Of course, there are those that oppose this. When I was in the Knesset I fought for more people to be allowed to carry. There were 150,000 people licensed to carry. But the Knesset wants to decrease that till terrorism decreases. You have the state as “Big Brother”.

What about the shooting in Hevron? (Sheila’s article on this incident) WHY is this soldier being prosecuted? Didn’t the fact that the video came from B’Tselem raise suspicions? This produced a wealth of information. This is so much more to this than a simple case of Katie Couric media malfeasance. I really think you should go read Moshe’s whole article on this topic, but here is what we covered.

Feiglin: This is a war of Israelis and Jews. It’s the soul of the Israeli, for what comes first, a concept of citizen or Jewish state. It’s been going on a long time. For the Israeli (in this comparison, sounds to me like your typical “enlightened” leftist who doesn’t have good sense about how this will play out) it’s the citizen, not Jewish state or identity. It was certainly evident when the Eichmann trial took place in Israel in 1961. A Jewish writer Hannah Arendt wrote a book, “Eichmann In Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil,”with basically the premise that Eichmann was just there, wrong place, wrong time. Can’t blame him, can’t blame anyone but Hitler. Anyone would have acted the same. Apparently some Israeli “intellectuals”
felt the need to agree.
This kind of thinking is evident in the IDF today. The former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon recently said that “If someone rises to kill you, kill him first” is not the IDF’s strategy. The Deputy Chief of Staff equated those who subscribe to that value with Nazis. He would rather lose soldiers who protect citizens than kill terrorists. There is no difference in the value of the life of a person just out doing their shopping and the terrorist that comes to kill them. Certainly had nothing to do with ideology, right? But yet today some Arabs want to kill any Jew, soldier, civilian, man, woman, child or baby, it doesn’t matter. It IS the ideology. When Arafat was sick in Ramallah I had a sign on my car that said Hurry up and kill him before he dies. For someone that had that much blood on his hands to die in his own time is immoral. For terrorists to go to trial is immoral. A healthy Jewish response is you kill the attackers. You kill the terrorists that have
declared their own war on Jews. After the soldier killed the terrorist, the stabbings stopped. He did more than all the speeches.

What about the Temple Mount, Har HaBeit? Why are the Israeli police so quick to remove Jews? One young boy was even recently removed not for saying anything but because he had tears in his eyes. And for those that wonder, yes I did express my opinion of Moshe Dayan’s decision.

Feiglin: It has to do with losing identity. We must let Jews have their identity on the Temple Mount. There are those replacing Jewish identity, and they fear what Israel will become with it’s Jewish identity. Arabs do not really have an identity so much as filled with hatred. It’s in their textbooks, their schools, mosques, social media and how they are raised. If Israel disappeared from the map, there would be no more “Palestinian”. Their reason for being would be gone. The first Zionists were colonialists from Europe, and they just wanted to be one big happy family. They didn’t understand the Arab mindset. Most Israelis are Jews first, Israeli second but they are being led by a minority that doesn’t have that mindset.

What about the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) or as I call it (BS) movement? Has it had an effect? Is it just plain anti-Semitism in increments?

Feiglin: BDS is about the delegitimizing of Israel. When did the holocaust start? (He did ask me this, and I thought for a second and answered “the night Hitler was conceived”) That was the correct answer. When Hitler spoke again and again against the Jews it had it’s effect. In 1939 or 1940 when Jews ran to their neighbors to hide, they were killed. It was about eliminating the right of Jews to exist. Israel has to attack Iran, there is a real danger of Jewish history being written in Jerusalem. Not Warsaw. It’s needed to make a moral point. There is a correlation between the speeches made in Iran 12 ½ years ago by Ahmadinejad and the delegitimization of Israel, and it’s growing.

My last question to him “We’ve had a possible Kenyan as a president, at least someone not really raised as an American, I think we should try having an Israeli for a President, would you run?”

Feiglin: I’ve been asked about the current election. My answer is it doesn’t matter which one wins. If Israel will do what is best for Israel, then all will be better.

I started this interview by telling him that I felt like I cared more about Israeli lives than some Israeli politicians did.

After talking to him, I am quite certain that is not how it is when it comes to Mr. Feiglin. He has a very sound political platform based on a Jewish identity in THE Jewish state, living by Jewish laws and principles. Laws that will protect the innocent, laws that will allow every citizen living their daily lives be it in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Be’er Sheva, Judea and Samaria to know their lives are worth defending and giving them the means to do so. It will allow the IDF to return to being the fine army it was meant to be and not a social experiment.

Zehut is a party based on knowing who we are, and what we are, and where we belong. And embracing it!

Honestly, I think there is a lesson in this for Americans as well. Because I’m very, very tired of having values that the majority of U.S. believe in being derided and told “that’s not who we are”.
Yeah, it is. And as the politicians and their compatriots in the media crank up to hype another round of gun control tripe, we would do well to remember it. It makes me think so much of “You can live
by G-d’s law or die by man’s.

I want to thank three wonderful people, Aryeh Sonnenberg who is the international director of Zehut and so warmly welcomed me when I joined. He put me in touch with Shmuel Sackett (who I got to talk with on the phone, really) who set the meeting up with Moshe. Shmuel also writes excellent articles. And I very much want to thank Moshe Feiglin for giving me an hour of his very valuable limited time. And since I often like to close with a video, this one is perfect!

(source)

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Yom Ha’Shoah

Today is Yom Ha’Shoah, holocaust remembrance day.  A few thoughts and some more information for you on Yom Ha’Shoah.  This is quite a good little article.

Politics always take an interest in you
Politics always take an interest in you
Only a moment.
Only a moment.
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