I’ve been saving these up, hoping to write something or somethings from them. But life has kept me from it. So here you go for your weekend reading …
“The Banality of Good.” A surprisingly decent piece from Slate on how people who rescued Jews during the Holocaust found it so hard to talk about what they did.
We tend to think of the Poles as being willing, eager collaborators with the Nazis in the extermination of Jews. As usual, the real picture was more varied.
Sometime-TZP-contributor Ilana Mercer says “cut the ‘cycle of violence’ crap and recognize what’s really going on with the latest round of attacks on Jews.
This is the time of year when things like Freddy Krueger and zombies begin to make their appearance. Not only in costume shops, but in the dreams of young and old alike. But then you wake up from the dream, have a nice cup of Israeli coffee and start to breath normally again. Telling yourself, “It was just a dream”.
But what if your life in the daytime rivals the horrific events of your nighttime nightmares?
It’s becoming that way for normal Israelis, just people going out to work, take their kids to school or grab some coffee, milk and halva on the way home.
There have been a lot of attacks on Israeli Jews. There is the one chronicled by my teammate Y.B. of a wonderful man and his wife in front of their young children as they were on their way to a class reunion. Miracle of miracles they evidently didn’t see the children in the back, or just weren’t inclined to kill them at that point. Then a couple days ago there was a horrific stabbing in Jerusalem in the old city of a man, his wife and their two year old toddler. They were out shopping. From the video it appears they were in the Cardo. A nice shopping section in the old city of Jerusalem. I’m quite familiar with the Cardo. I was there four months ago.
You notice all the shopkeepers standing around and watching it, drinking soda, not attempting to intervene as a man, his wife and two year old are stabbed. Not only that, when Adelle Banita-Bennettattempted to escape by running away with a knife stuck in her shoulder the arabs shouted to her to “die” and “hopefully she would die too”. When she tried to hold on to a passerby as she felt she was going to faint, he shook her off and kicked her. No arabs attempted to help her. Who did? Rabbi Nehemia Lavi Hy”d. He grabbed his gun and went out to try to help. The Father of seven was then stabbed and his weapon taken. Those arab shopkeepers stood around watched and did nothing. But the SOBs moved fast enough when the shots started. Too late to save the Father and the Rabbi.
Then there seems to be an increase the the rate of arab “traffic accidents”. Like this tragic lose of control of a car.
The driver was the uncle of one of the Har Nof Synagogue murders. With all the unfortunate traffic accidents in Israel lately perhaps they should consider an car ban for arabs. And isn’t it shocking he had that ax right there with him in the car.
Where does all this come from? Part of it is Mahmoud Abbas, known as Abu Mazen that leads the PLO. When you have someone who helped finance the Munich Olympic Massacres as the leader of the PLO, shouldn’t be shocking. If you didn’t know, the day the attacks began, was the day after Abbas stood in the UN and said Oslo was finished.
Somehow I don’t think he is all that concerned that the 13 year old child he told the world the Israelis murdered is actually alive and being cared for in an Israeli hospital. The 13 year old child in question is probably related in temperament to Michael Brown the gentle giant that started the Ferguson riots.
And that brings me to my next point. How the current regime in the White House, the world, the UN and media view this situation. In the article above is the line
Sky News has been unable to verify Mr Danon’s claims, in which he said: “When a Palestinian child returns from school and opens (sic) the television, he doesn’t see Barney or Donald Duck, he sees murderers portrayed as heroes.
Um, well, how about what’s going on now? Because with what I see happening, that pretty much looks to be the case. The two little kids in combat fatigues saying they want to blow up Jews sure sounds like it. The 13 year old “child” that was stabbing people with his cousin sure seems like it.
Then we have the ever reliable CNN, from a CNN article we learn
Although the Obama administration has been careful not to place blame on any party for the latest escalation of violence, the officials said Kerry is particularly concerned about statements by Palestinian officials inciting their people to violence.”This violence and any incitement to violence has got to stop,” Kerry said at a separate event. “The situation is simply too volatile, too dangerous. And it is not going to lead to the outcome that people want, which is to have a peaceful resolution of the differences.”He added, “We continue to stress the importance of all persons of responsibility to condemn the violence on either side and to avoid provocative statements.” (Violence on either side?? I don’t believe the Jews are standing near Gaza or East Jerusalem and hurling rocks or hanging around with knives in their hands. )U.S. officials said Kerry is concerned about heavy-handed treatment of Palestinian rock throwers by Israeli security forces, particularly the use of live ammunition against young protesters.( I think a rock has already binged Kerry in the head. He’s worried about the wrong group, the ones trying to kill innocent people. Perhaps he should suggest to them they stay home and quit trying to kill people by throwing rocks at them.)
EAST Jerusalem? EAST Jerusalem? Um, I believe the attacks are not being carried out in EAST Jerusalem, which is mainly arab. Written by someone who sounds like they aspire to be a leader of “Occupy whatever the heck is next”, they are offended that the citizenship which arabs in East Jerusalem can apply for is being revoked for the “college students” that have stabbed police and attacked others. They are going to LOSE their SOCIAL WELFARE BENEFITS! And have to reapply for visas every few months. Those Israeli beasts! They have a helpful chart showing the number of Palestinian deaths resulting from Israeli security forces. They also show the number of attacks on Israelis, which is fewer. What they do not mention is it is not one for one. MANY Israelis are sometimes injured in one attack. They talk of the three men that kidnapped and killed a boy from East Jerusalem. Wrong, yes, I agree. But they forget to mention that was in retaliation for the three Israeli teenagers that were kidnapped, tortured and killed. No, it doesn’t make it right, but it would have seemed pertinent to mention don’t you think?
These are not people working for a peaceful solution, nor are the people that “just want their own land”, these are people that are killing Jews because they are Jews.
“Regarding Jerusalem, it absolutely is unacceptable on either side to have to have violence resorted to as a solution,” he said.”And I would caution everybody to be calm, not to escalate the situation and to deal with this in a way that can find quick way back to the full restoration of the status quo where the chief administration is in the hands of the government of Jordan and King Abdullah, who is the custodian,” he said, referring to the Al-Aqsa site, also known as the Temple Mount.”And it is very important to maintain a sense of calm that will minimize the instinct for escalation.”
Excuse me? Violence on either side? Everyone to be calm? Restore the status quo to Jordan? In case Mr. Heinz-Kerry hasn’t noticed, this is not a two way street. The peaceful palestinians are killing people, the Jews are dying. Jews aren’t attacking shoppers and children sleeping in Sukkahs. Basically it’s the same response of the regime to the shooting of Christians in Oregon. Meh. But for Heinz-Kerry to act like this is aggression on both sides is very disingenuous.
The Gaza strip? You can tell the deep level of caring Hamas has for the people living in the Gaza strip. Hamas uses schools, hospitals, apartment buildings to store and fire rockets into Israel. Israel will then warn the people in those buildings that the buildings are going to be bombed. They are the only military in the world to do this. It seems Israel has an objection to having rockets rained down on it’s citizens. So Israel will warn the people in the targeted buildings. Should the people try to leave the buildings, Hamas will shoot them. Hamas KNOWS the Israelis will not bomb the building as long as there are people in there. So whatever non-sense you hear from the UN or the current regime in the White House? Hamas knows, the Israelis will not attack innocent citizens. Interesting isn’t it?
Look at the response of the White House to killing 22 innocent people in the US attack on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz Afghanistan. We can’t say anything, need a full investigation, don’t want to jump to conclusions. But when Israel shuts down a building that Hamas is using to fire rockets? The condemnation is large and accompanied by outrage.
The media, other nations, our current regime and certainly the UN hold Israel to a different standard than they do the rest of the world. With Jews fleeing the anti-semitism of Europe for the relative safety of Israel, the Jewish people should at least be safe in their homeland.
And finally, it looks like that may begin to happen. While in the CNN version of the bus stop attack they say that a Israeli security officer stopped it, on a Israeli radio show I heard it was a armed citizen. Not that CNN would ever admit THAT!
The IDF, Police and Security Services are almost everywhere. Most times on the bus or the train in Israel there would be young soldiers with their fully automatic weapons riding along. This was shocking to me as in America we are told to allow weapons on a bus or train, let alone fully automatic would result in countless casualties. The weapons would just begin randomly shooting people. In Israel, this never seemed to happen. They just pretty much hung out quietly with the person carrying them. There are IDF, police and security all around that can intervene, and they do it very well.
My point of course, is that they are too easy to spot. A peaceful palestinian that wants to stab someone only has to wait until there are no uniforms around. And no matter how good IDF, Police & Security are, and they are good, they can’t be everywhere at once. In addition to that, just think what it would do to the campaign of terror if they suddenly realized a WHOLE lot of Israelis wearing jeans, TZP polo shirts (sigh, I know) but regular Israelis were armed. Or might be armed. They just don’t know who they are and where they are. I’m thinking that would put a stick in the wheels of the current terror campaign.
Apparently Israelis agree, they have been flooding gun shops looking to find tools to keep themselves and their families safe. One shop owner is teaching for free. He waived the fee as his way of trying to help Israelis cope with the wave of peaceful palestinians expressing their “frustration”. And just so you know, when the Israelis classify a wound as “lightly wounded”? It can still be a very serious, possibly life threatening wound. I think they’re from the Monty Python school of Emergency Medicine. In case you need a bit of levity at this point.
Not that Israelis are completely innocent in all this. No indeed. In fact, one woman has had her gun license revoked! A threat and a menace she was! Do you know what she did? She is accused of attempting to PRAY on the Temple Mount. Everyone knows only muslims are allowed to pray at their third holiest site. First Holiest to Jews and Christians, but hey, they aren’t muslims. She hasn’t actually been investigated for it, so not sure why this happened. But the point is, when there is a list of who owns guns, well, there is a list of who owns guns. Mistakes can be tragic as her husband was stabbed very near their home by an arab terrorist peaceful palestinian.
But as they say on my favorite Israeli radio show, I think this will be coming soon to a theater near you. As 80% of the “refugees” flooding Europe are in fact, not from Syria. What do we have flooding the US via barry’s import program? Who knows? But the chances that they came from a country where the children have been raised to believe that killing Jews is a wonderful thing is good. The attacks we see in Israel now, are quite likely going to increase here.
Israelis are under attack in their daily lives, and the world’s response, the media response is meh. Perhaps the Israelis need to start saying the name of each victim attacked. Perhaps if they say the name of each victim attacked is “Cecil”, the world will begin to care.
“Ams Yisrael Chai – The people of Israel live.” עם ישראל חי
Y.B. put up this video, but I have my favorite version of the same song.
About a year ago I related a story of attending a “Preparedness Show” wherein I was drawn into commenting on the Anti Defamation League’s stance on firearms and the State.
For as long as I can remember, like our ideological forebearer, Aaron Zelman, OBM, I have been frustrated and disgusted by the mainstream Jewish organizations and community leaders’ suicidal position on self defense.
Comedian Jackie Mason used to quip about the cultural differences between the typical American Jew and the Israeli “Sabra”, by suggesting that the latter were not really Jews, but Puerto Ricans.
So, in the past few days I see the ever- reliable organ of the Reich, the Huffington Post, trot out a truly vile piece under the pretense of attacking Dr. Ben Carson.
When Joshua ben Nun and his guerilla force entered the Land of Israel, they did something odd. Their overarching mission was to conquer the land and drive out the Canaanites and other pagan peoples from therein, establishing on the ground the title to that land, as promised to Abraham.
Yet, here they were before a disease-ridden pest-hole of a walled city called Jericho. So nasty was it, that Joshua absolutely forbade the Israelite Soldiers to loot, nor occupy, the place. It was to be destroyed, utterly.
Why?
Joshua knew that many far more difficult cities, kings, and armies had been watching the Israelites tarry for forty years just outside of their goal.
Memories of the incredible miracles wrought on their behalf, and the certainty that they were protected by an immeasurably awesome god had faded to doubtful legend among the peoples of Canaan and beyond. Perhaps their god had abandoned them?
So, the annihilation of Jericho was a psychological weapon. Strike fear into the enemy before they ever even see you. Sow doubt and they will be weakened. Perhaps they will even fold without fighting?
Before and since, manipulating the mind of an enemy is a crucial part of warfare.
Thus it is with those who seek to keep us quietly toiling on their plantation.
Segments of society decide to be savage murderers, rapists, and thieves? Well… entrust your very lives to the government (the most prolific of all murderers, rapists, and thieves) we are told.
Take measures to protect yourself, your loved ones, your neighbors from predation? Get scolded two-fold; first, that anything you do is futile, and second, that to do so it is morally equivalent to being a predator.
Spearheaded (this time) by Nick Baumann; Senior Enterprise Editor at HuffPo, we are scolded once again by our “leaders”, and our dutiful State-Safe academics. Gee, the Nazis ‘loosened’ the restrictions on firearms, especially for party members (Heh-heh. A subtle message to get with the ‘program’ there, right?)
They even trot out sad survivors of the Holocaust to say that suggesting that to claim disarmed people (erm…Psychologically? um… Physically?) might have saved lives had they not been in such straits is to BLAME THE VICTIM (!?)
Such arrogance. Such evil.
No.
Unless you have both the inner strength and the tools to defend your life, your liberty, and property, you are destined for chains, and when no longer useful to the bosses,… to the smokestack.
When I was a fairly young girl my family went to see the Disney movie “Bambi”. I can still remember laying in the back of the station wagon with my sisters on the feather bed we had back there. Nope, never did care for deer meat. When I was young I remember my Dad telling me when I was done riding, you take care of your horse before you take care of yourself. Which explains why a few years ago after a “mishap” shall we say, as blood flowed down my face I unsaddled my horse, put my tack away and turned him out before I sought help. To be fair, if you haven’t priced tack, don’t scoff. What we learn in those “young” years, tends to stick and stick deeply.
I recently read a book called Please Say Kaddish For Me. I bought it when I worked a ethnic event last weekend and the author had a table there. Naturally she visited our table, Israel. We visited and she told me about her book, set in late 1800s Russia. She mentioned that she had people tell her they didn’t know what pogroms were. I had the same thing happen with something I had written, one of the people that read it said I shouldn’t use words that weren’t common. Sadly, pogroms have been common, way too common. I normally don’t have much time to read, but I could not put down the book. I started it Saturday evening, and read most of Sunday till I finished it late Sunday night. The story, the people, the time just sucked me in. I just had to find out what happened next. There were a couple parts in it that I want to bring out, one was when some of the characters talked about perhaps trying to get guns to defend themselves and the other was about the children. She made good point of talking about some of the games the children were playing in the streets, and about the children throwing rocks at some of the Jewish characters. One of the adults said it was what they had learned at home. Yes, yes indeed. It’s how people can grow up to slaughter a group of people because they have learned from a very young age that “those kind” aren’t human, they are evil, they killed Christ, and on and on. BTW, the Jews weren’t allowed to implement or pass a death sentence, only the Romans.
And that is what got me to thinking about the things I learned “when I was young” and how they have stuck with me, part of my fabric.
What are our children learning today? When I was growing up, while my parents were fairly involved but they didn’t check over my homework unless I needed help. If parents today are the same, they could be in for quite a shock.
This country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. Yet in the schools while there is no room for a Torah or Bible study club to meet before or after school. Islam is being taught as part of the lessons of world history. This article is from 2013.
The textbook, called simply “World History,” contains a 32-page chapter fondly devoted to “Muslim Civilizations.” Sections include descriptions of the Koran, the growth of the Muslim empire and the Five Pillars of Islam.Now we’re getting to the truth. An entire 32 page chapter dedicated to the Koran, and the Five Pillars of Islam? This is 100 percent Islamic indoctrination presented as “history.”
But it goes further back than that, this one is from 2008, and lists incidents from all across America, not just one state. Children are taken to visit mosques and given korans, or qurans or as barry calls it, oh never mind. But the point is, there was no field trip to a Synagogue or Church, no Bibles given out.
Infamous Palestinian Arab “activist” Bassem Tamimi spoke at an Ithaca, NY elementary school on Friday to present to third-graders a presentation on the “suffering” of Palestinian Arab children in Israel
You should read that article and find out how despicable that person really is. Rabid, as in bat-rabid anti-semitic in words and deeds.
The High Holy Days are over, but while the muslim talk was about not allowing Jews to “profane” the Temple Mount because of the Al-Aqsa mosque.
Let’s look at how much the poor palestinian youth treat their holy Al-Aqsa mosque.
This one is even better, it has captions.
It’s not about a great love for Al-Aqsa, it’s about a great hatred for Jews and Christians. Think about it, is this how other religions treat their holy sites? But they are taught from a very young age.
Do you think these lessons will stick with the children? The attitudes that have been taught to these children who graduate from throwing water balloons and stones at worshipers on the Temple Mount become the rock and Molotov cocktail throwing teenagers and far younger that attack motorists and pedestrians in Israel. And now Europe, and before long here as the asylum seekers pour in, unvetted, unscreened.
What do we teach our children? Aim small, miss small I hope, gun safety and value of life. Both theirs and others.
Mommy and Daddy, what does “pogrom” mean and where do they come from?
Samuel and Diana Blug; elderly Dutch Jews, survivors of the Nazi’s best efforts, were served a bitter second helping of hate about a month ago [from y.net.com]:
“The Jewish couple, who have been married for 56 years, fell victim to violent abuse when two men entered their apartment disguised as police officers. “They knocked loudly on the door and said, ‘open up, police,’” the couple recalls.”
“Diana, an Auschwitz survivor, says she told her husband not to open the door because she was worried that something was wrong, but Shmuel opened the door – and so began the couple’s nightmare.”
“Immediately after the door was opened, two black-clad men burst in. They began to severely beat the couple. “I told them, ‘don’t hit my wife,’” Shmuel says tearfully, but the attackers paid no mind and knocked the elderly couple to the ground, kicking them repeatedly.”
“They then tied them up and began ripping Diana’s jewelry off her body. One of the assailants demanded to know where the jewelry was kept. Diana’s father was a diamond polisher, so there were more than a few pieces of precious jewelry and family heirlooms, some gifts from her parents, in the home.”
“They wanted to chop off my finger because the rings didn’t come off fast enough,” Diana, who still bears dog bite scars, remembers as she cries. “They called us ‘dirty Jews’ and said: ‘You don’t need your jewelry anymore. You’ve been wearing it for too long. Now it’s all ours.’”
“The robbers emptied the apartment of valuables and caused extensive property damage.”
“Emmanuel, the Blugs’ son, offered a cash prize of 10,000 euros to anyone with information that would help catch the assailants. Many citizens shocked by the incident increased the reward by a few thousands euros.”
“Amsterdam police distributed a description of the assailants, while Emmanuel distributed pictures of his injured parents, so “the whole world sees what they did to my parents.”
“The Blugs struggle to recover from the ordeal. “Those bastards ruined our lives,” said Shmuel. ”
Last January, after the Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher murders, Rabbi Menachem Margolin of the European Jewish Association, called upon the governments of Europe to make meaningful changes to their self-defense laws…
“We hereby ask that gun licensing laws are reviewed with immediate effect to allow designated people in the Jewish communities and institutions to own weapons for the essential protection of their communities, as well as receiving the necessary training to protect their members from potential terror attacks,”..
He was met with a flat refusal.
Asked about their refusal, Rabbi Margolin said:
“The government is unable to protect its citizens,” he says. “Jewish institutions are a main target, and we need them to monitor and fight against antisemitism, but governments do not understand the situation.”
“The serious demand is that every Jewish institution is protected 24/7. When I pick up my son at the synagogue I want to make sure that he is there and he is alive. It is a very basic request.”
I disagree. These governments understand the situation quite well. They simply do not care enough to face the issue squarely.
After all, with the new influx of fecund immigrants, if they lose a few Jews in the mix, who really cares?
The Iran nuclear deal “will make America and the world safer and more secure”, President Barack Obama said on Saturday.The 159-page agreement between six world powers and Iran was finalized this week in Vienna, after extensive talks. On Saturday, Obama used his weekly address to seek support among voters, prior to the congressional vote on the deal and against a backdrop of Republican-led opposition.“This deal will make America and the world safer and more secure,” Obama said.“Still, you’re going to hear a lot of overheated and often dishonest arguments about it in the weeks ahead.”
He has for 3 years referred to any opposition to giving nuclear capability and money to a country that hates America and Israel as “noise”.
But now we have the John Kerry brokered deal. And it will keep us and Israel safer.
There’s been a little squabbling over it. President Sotero assures the Jewish community that oppose giving a country determined to wipe the one Jewish state in the world off the map nuclear capabilities that they need to put their “emotions” aside. He then assured everyone that he was pro-Israel. I suppose this was necessary since he is in favor of allowing a country determined to wipe Israel off the map to have a nuclear weapon. But he also feels that once the agreement has been signed sealed and sold out by Congress that Israeli-American relations will improve. Since the deal also involves giving Iran the technology to defeat any attempts Israel might make to defend herself by pre-emptive strikes I find this delusion astonishing.
As he has in previous speeches and interviews, Obama sought to refute criticism of the accord point by point. He disputed the notion that Iran would funnel the bulk of the money it receives from the sanctions relief into terrorism, saying Iranian leaders are more likely to try to bolster their weak economy. He also said the agreement wasn’t built on trusting Iran’s government, which frequently spouts anti-American and anti-Israeli rhetoric.
Keep that bit in mind.
Last month, National Security Adviser Susan Rice admitted that some of the money due to be released as part of the deal negotiated by the U.S. led P5+1 “would go to the Iranian military and could potentially be used for the kinds of bad behavior that we have seen in the region.”
Ok, first this is the woman that makes the round of Sunday Talk shows telling America the reason for the attack and resulting deaths in Benghazi was a youtube video. Second, Susan Rice and the word “Security” should never been in the same sentence, let alone job description. Beyond that her idea of “bad behavior” defies understanding. Bad behavior is a two year old stamping it’s feet and yelling “NO” at it’s mother, it’s a teen-ager speeding or your horse kicking, nipping or bucking. But I guess if you are part of the Sotero regime then terrorism is “bad behavior”, you know, just part of the “noise”.
Aside from the soon-to-be-released billions, Iran’s finances will also be strengthened by the easing of trade embargoes that have seen a horde of major international business – many from P5+1 countries – rushing to sign lucrative deals with the ayatollahs. Earlier this week, British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond scoffed at the fears of Israel and many Arab countries in the Middle East, saying the deal would “slowly rebuild their sense that Iran is not a threat to them.” Less than 24 hours later, the spokesman for Iran’s top parliament member said, “Our positions against [Israel] have not changed at all; Israel should be annihilated.”
Last week I was pretty much away from the computer, but the first part of last week I found out that rockets has been fired into the Golan by Iran. So I wonder if Barry, Phil & Susie will suggest that Iran go into a time out?
But wait there’s more. Iran is wisely and peacefully spending your taxpayer money every bit as carefully as the obamas on one of their many vacations.
How silly to think American tax money would ever be spent to harm Israel. They’re probably just cranky and need to go for a nap, right Susie?
Wonder if barry is making the rounds at cocktail parties saying “Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit! I really thought they’d put that money into their economy! That was why the people voted for the current regime”.
Then there are the various and sundry terrorist organizations now competing for funding from Iran & it’s unfrozen assets. They do this by committing terrorist acts against Israel to show Iran they can produce results for the money. So Susie, is that “bad behavior” or just “acting out”?
If you want to consider that often what happens in Israel becomes mirrored in America I shudder. Or as I hear a radio talk show host from Israel say often “Coming soon to a theater near you” when talking about what America is creating for herself.
All this has been about nuclear weapons, and putting America, Israel and the rest of the world at risk. And Barry is willing to do that as he assures America it will keep “us” safer. Despite evidence to the contrary, he says it will keep “us” safer.
So next time you hear Barry talking about how “common sense gun control will keep us safer” and that most gun owners want it, remember a couple things. He lies like a rug and two he ignores all evidence to the contrary to further his agenda.
If he is willing to put the world at risk with a nuclear weapon in Iran’s hands, why would you even wonder if the safety of you or your family is really his concern? I suppose though, if we ask ourselves who the “us” is that he wants to keep safer, his statements would make sense if it is the muslim terrorists and thugs. Because his plans and ideology certainly will keep them safer. Perhaps he identifies more with them, thus it will keep “us” safer.
Several days ago a French high-speed train was zooming across the lowlands from Amsterdam, through Belgium, and on to Paris carrying hundreds of passengers.
Among them was a young man, originally from Morocco, studiously, but quietly listening to jihadist videos. After Liege, but before crossing intro France, he took a rather large bag and went to the restroom.
Nearby a young American artist and teacher and his wife, then residing in France, noted his odd behavior and protracted visit to the bathroom. Then he heard the man struggling therein with something mechanical.
The moment the man exited, this American’s fears were confirmed. The young Muslim jihadi had an AK-47 rifle, a Luger handgun, copious spare ammunition, and a Stanley-type utility knife.
The American and a nearby French gentleman immediately lunged at the jihadi to stop the impending slaughter. The American took two bullets (one through his neck) but fought on and got the rifle away from the Jihadi.
By that time, three American servicemen (lifelong friends), an a Briton, seeing the same thing from some thirty yards away had run to the scene and together with many passengers disarmed the jihadi, beat him senseless, and hog-tied him with their undershirts. There they attended to the wounded passengers, and only then to their own wounds, and held the culprit until the next stop.
Reportedly, and by contrast, the crew nearest the incident fled to cover, securing themselves in a room accessible only by their “special key”. The passengers, carefully denied effective self-defense, excepting their wits, their bare hands, by the Railroad and the State, nonetheless prevailed against certain death and mayhem.
To their credit, the Police, the Anti-Terror squads, and the upper echelons of the French Government saw fit as to regard these men as the true heroes they are. Awards ceremonies followed.
The jihadi appears to be associated with a very violent group who had a deadly firefight in Belgium only a few months back, directly in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo & Hyper Cacher murders.
Contrary to the assertions of his attorney, he is no mere homeless “lost child”. Neither did he happen upon the weapons, and decide in a moment of race-victimhood driven desperation and weakness, to commit a robbery.
No.
He was carrying on a proud, 1300 year old tradition.
I recently attended a lecture on the fate of the Sephardic Jews during WWII. Most people are familiar with what happened with the Ashkenazi Jews, as it was mainly the European Jews caught up in the brunt of hitler’s maniacal extermination plan. But the Sephardic Jews certainly shared their fate, but their stories are less well known.
Much of this came to light when US military forces invaded Iraq. On 6th May 2003 when US forces entered the military intelligence HQ of Saddam Hussein (as opposed to barak hussein). They found papers, prayer books, documents, office correspondence, and Hebrew calendars in about 4 feet of water. Astonishing! For more than one reason. It survived and is being preserved and restored and two, it shows the presence of a thriving Jewish community that existed in Iraq. Apparently the late Hussein, well, and the still living barak hussein wished to destroy any evidence of Jewish existence. I know, big yawn, what’s new. But some of the info the lecturer covered was very interesting. So, I’ll just give you a short report.
I suppose you could call the holocaust hitler’s muslim outreach pogrom, er, program. The Mufti of Jerusalem and hitler were buddies and allies in their desire to exterminate all Jewish life from planet earth. In 1941 Iraq had their pogrom. And while Achmadinajakerchooo denies the holocaust, he apparently doesn’t know his countries history. No, I mean he doesn’t know Iranian history. During the holocaust he denies, Iran was a safe way station for Jews going to the future Israel. He doesn’t know of the decency of “The Children of Tehran”. Apparently while Achmadinajakerchoo is brainless enough denying the holocaust, he is equally adept at exposing his ignorance of his own country. He thinks it has 57 stat…oops sorry, wrong dude.
The Island of Corfu. There Jews were craftsman and there was a small Jewish community. The mayor was a vicious anti-Semite and all but about 200 of the Jews were rounded up and shipped to Auschwitz. To get there, they had to go through 9 different countries, with 9 different currencies, and yet they were shipped. The 200 that did escape were sheltered by the local population of Corfu. The Greek Jews did not fare well at all in the concentration camps. They didn’t speak Yiddish, or German, Polish or any other language except Ladino. Therefore, where the other Jews in the camp could pass on life saving tips and tricks the Greek Jews were unable to understand the others, or to communicate with them.
In Salonika (Thessaloniki) the Jews were rounded up to be sent to Auschwitz. The community paid 2 billion drachmas for their freedom. And yet 50,000 were sent to Auschwitz, their Synagogues destroyed and cemeteries desecrated. Only 1,950 of them survived. Many of the Jews from Salonika were forced into being Sonderkommandos. I didn’t learn this in the lecture, but found it interesting. On 7 October 1944, the Sonderkommandos from Salonika joined with other Greek Jews in an uprising. They stormed the crematoria, killed 20 guards, fire-bombed the building and destroyed it before they were massacred by the Germans. Before they met their end they sang a song of the Greek Partisans and the Greek National anthem.
The Greek Jews that could escape being rounded up often joined up with the Greek Resistance and fought back.
I didn’t learn this in the lecture either, but I like it. When Mayor Carrer of Zakynthos was told by the Germans to give over the names of the 275 Jewish inhabitants of Zakynthos, the Metropolitan Bishop of Zakynthos turned over to the Germans a list of names. Two names. His and the Mayors. The island of Zakynthos then hid every single member of the Island’s Jewish population.
It was in Yugoslavia that the Germans developed their mobile execution chambers. They used moving trucks into which special flooring was put in. They then had the exhaust hoses fed to the inside of the truck. The special flooring was to deal with the body’s actions at time of death. It made it easier for the nazis to hose the trucks out.
Bulgaria. Bulgaria is interesting. Now while old Abe Foxman of the ADL is happy to laud Bulgaria for their courageous saving of the Bulgarian Jews, this article goes into even more detail than our lecture did about what a truly mixed bag the “saving” was. No, Bulgaria didn’t want to deport their Jews. Yes, there was a massive eruption from the writers, lawyers and other professionals when the nazis wanted to begin deportation of Bulgaria’s Jews. But this was after they had plenty of blood on their hands. They were fine with containing them in ghettos and seizing their property, making them wear a star and mark their homes with a star making them easy targets for thugs. In addition to which 20,000 were deported. Not to a concentration camp of course, you understand and all. They were transported to about 3 different cities, for 3 weeks. THEN they were deported to Treblinka. In the end, Archbishop Roncalli wrote to King Boris and told him if he did this his place in heaven would be denied. He wasn’t going, no way, no how. That apparently did it. Afterwards Archbishop Roncalli wrote King Boris III and told him his place in heaven was assured.
North Africa, the King of Monaco flat refused to deport the Jews of Monaco. In fact the Jews were better off living in Monaco than they were Vichy France. In case you don’t know how “helpful” Vichy France was to the Jews.
Tunisia had local concentration camps, but they were not death camps.
In Algeria the Jews led a unsuccessful resistance to the Germans, but luckily, the Americans were in the neighborhood for Operation Torch.
The Italians were fine with persecuting the Jews, but in GENERAL, it didn’t want to kill them.
In certain countries, the price paid was the entire country, the impact of WWII on Sephardic culture was severe.
These were people that were just going along, having a nice life. Living with their families, loving, raising children, going to Synagogues, doing their jobs, practicing their professions. Their communities had been there often for hundreds of years living with their neighbors. And everything was fine.
Everything was fine, until one day. And then it wasn’t.
I’m of the generation that grew up watching John Wayne and Roy Rogers, and greatly admired both men. After I read a few of the books written by Dale Evans Rogers, Roy’s wife, I admired him even more. They were straight shooting, honest men. Hard working, with guts and integrity. And that was just in their private lives, let alone their persona in the movies. As you can tell, I’m from a time gone by.
I guess what got me to thinking about heroes was a facebook meme I saw a couple days ago. It had a picture of Batman and said “My boss told me to dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Now I’m sitting in Human Resources at a disciplinary meeting dressed as Batman.” I was telling a girlfriend about it and said I wanted to find one that said I’m sitting in a disciplinary meeting dressed as Judah Maccabee. She seemed a little astonished. She said Judah’s battles were in many arenas. Spiritual, physical, emotional and psychological. She felt that was quite a chunk to chew. I agree.
The night before I had watched a 1982 movie called “The Wall” about the Warsaw ghetto, and how the resistance came to be. Well, at least Hollywood style. One of the leaders of the resistance turned out to be (in the movie anyway) a woman named Rachel. She was one of the first to insist to the resistance the cattle cars weren’t going to the Ukraine. She was the first to insist they were going to have to be responsible for defending themselves. She was the one that was teaching them how to shoot a pistol. Sadly there is not enough back-story in the movie to know how she acquired such knowledge, but her directions were pretty good. But as best as I can tell, she was just a nice woman who was enjoying a nice Jewish life with her family when the world went crazy.
Judah was the same, he and his family were having a nice Jewish life in Modin. Well, as nice as you can have when Antiochus has decided your religion will not be allowed to exist and you must abandon it and now accept HIS religion. Oh, and if you follow yours, you will die.
My girlfriend pointed out some of my thought processes are a tad bit different than a lot of peoples. Ok, maybe so. So I asked her who HER heroes are? She is quite a bit younger than I am.
Her choices were Corrie Ten Boom, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Nathan Hale, Patrick Henry and all the founding fathers. For quite similar reasons. Corrie? A nice old lady building and fixing watches, well, until the world went cray-cray. Laura? She and her family were some of the early pioneers. Their lives were not easy and they went through many difficult and trying times. But they stuck it out to help settle their land and have nice lives. The founding fathers? Well, they were farmers and simple men. Men with families just going about their daily lives. Yet, when the need for them to rise to the challenge in the case of freedom and liberty, they did. She summed it up with ordinary, everyday people doing extraordinary things. People with regular lives becoming amazing heroes. Ordinary people overcoming extraordinary odds.
I asked a relative of mine who her heroes were. She is five years younger than I am. Hers? Winston Churchill, “Iron” Margaret Thatcher, and sigh, Colin Powell. All for the same reason, they were people who took unpopular stances when it was necessary to do the right thing, because it was the right thing.
A friend of mine a couple years older? Leonard Bernstein. Because he stepped in and did such a marvelous job when the chips were down. I kind of caught her off guard with the question as our whole conversation up to that point had been a completely different topic.
My point is this, all of the people I surveyed are within about 15 years of each other. We have similar reasons for picking our heroes.
What are children taught today are heroes in the public schools? There are pages on Michael Jordan, paragraph on George Washington? Really. The media tells us it is a football player who is “courageous” enough to tell the world he is “gay”. Ok, takes courage, but is the result the same as Nathan Hale? A man has a sex change operation? Courage? Um, well, ok. But actually I think his/her saying on public television that he/she is a Republican took more. It reminds me of collage in the 60s. All these kids dressed alike, bathing as often, chanting the same slogans and protesting for the same causes claiming they are “bucking the system” and never seeing the irony.
Today we have celebrate “diversity”, as long as you go along with what the liberal political correctness tells you IS diversity. If not? You will be attacked in the media as a hater, your bank account subject to IRS seizure and the tolerant left will try to shut your business down. We must be diverse, as long as we are diverse the way it’s “allowed”. Ahh, what was it Hitler said about giving him a generation? I’m sure professor Bill Ayers said similar though. Just a guess.
So now I will sound like the old person I am. I will bemoan that today the main topic is who will win American Idol, what are the Kardashians wearing and where is Paris Hilton, while they may not know there is a Paris, France.
Perhaps it is just me, perhaps it is the rainy day, but I can not help but wonder, for how little can the title “Hero” be purchased today? Will people be the same today as they were in the meeting in the film clip from “The Wall”, they delayed fighting evil, because they did not recognize evil for what it was, and if they began to they were unable to admit to it. Almost every hero listed above, no matter who selected them, recognized a threat to their area and addressed it.
From 1st Maccabees 3:17
Now when Seron, a prince of the army of Syria, heard say that Judas had gathered unto him a multitude and company of the faithful to go out with him is to war ; he said, I will get me a name and honor in the kingdom ; for I will go fight with Judas and them that are with him, who despise the king’s commandment. So he made him ready to go up, and there went with him a mighty host of the ungodly to help him, and to be avenged of the children of Israel.
And when he came near to the going up of Beth-horon, Judas went forth to meet him with a small company: who, when they saw the host coming to meet them, said unto Judas, How shall we be able, being so few, to fight against so great a multitude and so strong, seeing we arc ready to faint with fasting all this day ? Unto whom Judas answered.
It is no hard matter for many to be shut up in the hands of a few; and with the God of heaven it is all one, to deliver with a great multitude, or a small company: for the victory of battle standeth not in the multitude of an host; but strength cometh from heaven. They come against us in much pride and iniquity to destroy us, and our wives and children, and to spoil us but we fight for our lives and our laws. Wherefore the Lord himself will overthrow lo them before our face and as for you, be ye not afraid of them.
Now as soon as he had left off speaking, he leapt suddenly upon them, and so Seron and his host was overthrown before him. And they pursued them from the going down of Beth-horon unto the plain, where were slain about eight hundred men of them ; and the residue fled into the land of the Philistines.
Then began the fear of Judas and his brethren, and an exceeding great dread, to fall upon the nations.
On July 31st 1941 the order to plan a “Final Solution to the Jewish Problem” was formally placed into motion.
SS Chief Hermann Göring wrote a letter to his director of Reich Security Services, Reinhardt Heydrich, directing him “to carry out all the necessary preparations with regard to organizational and financial matters for bringing about a complete solution of the Jewish question in the German sphere of influence.”
He further ordered Heydrich to prepare and submit to him the resulting overall plan to accomplish this very important task.
As of the Summer of 1941, the “German sphere of influence” already covered over a dozen countries… home to some Eleven Million Jews. Many of whose communities dated back over one thousand years. Some were to twice that old.
By January of the following year, the overall plan was ready. A coordinating conference was held in Wannsee.
The attendees included:
• Heydrich, as chief of the Reich Security Main Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt-RSHA)
• SS Major General Heinrich Müller, chief of the Gestapo
• SS Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann, chief of the RSHA Department of Jewish Affairs
• SS Colonel Eberhard Schöngarth, RSHA commander Government General in Krakow, Poland
• Major Rudolf Lange, commander of RSHA Einsatzkommando 2, then deployed in Latvia
• SS Major General Otto Hofmann, the chief of SS Race and Settlement Main Office.
• State Secretary Roland Freisler of the Ministry of Justice
• Reichs Cabinet Ministerial Director Wilhelm Kritzinger
• State Secretary Alfred Meyer of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
• Ministerial Director Georg Leibrandt of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
• Foreign Office Undersecretary of State Martin Luther
• Interior Ministry State Secretary Wilhelm Stuckart
• State Secretary Erich Naumann (Office of Plenipotentiary for the Four-Year Plan)
• State Secretary Josef Bühler of the Office of the Government of the Governor General in German-occupied Poland
• Nazi Party Chancellery Ministerial Director Gerhard Klopfer
Heydrich crisply described the disposition of the “Endlsösung” to the attendees in this way:
“(D)uring the course of the Final Solution, the Jews will be deployed under appropriate supervision at a suitable form of labor deployment in the East. In large labor columns, separated by gender, able-bodied Jews will be brought to those regions to build roads, whereby a large number will doubtlessly be lost through natural reduction. Any final remnant that survives will doubtless consist of the elements most capable of resistance. They must be dealt with appropriately, since, representing the fruit of natural selection, they are to be regarded as the core of a new Jewish revival.”
Jews. Guns. No compromise. No surrender.
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