I will admit I’m a fan of crime dramas. I will watch episodes of Law & Order endlessly, and my latest interest is Criminal Minds – a show about the FBI’s behavioral analysis unit. I tend not to look at the politics of a show. If I did, the writing, plot, and characterization would be sullied for me in most cases. I also try not to pay attention to the politics of the actors, unless they become so unbearable and preachy, that I am unable to separate the screeching lunacy from the character, in which case, the actor’s talent can be called into question.
The reason I bring this up is because as you may know, the majority of Hollywood is leftist, and most actors are sworn enemies of the Second Amendment – from their gated communities and guarded mansions, of course.
One, however, stands out from the pile of mindless, sheltered, spoiled celebrities – Joe Mantegna one of the stars of the aforementioned Criminal Minds.
A recent Ammoland article shows Mantegna as not just friend to the Second Amendment, but also friend to Israel – a combination you won’t often find in Hollywood.
IWI US, Inc., a subsidiary of Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) Ltd., announces it will be donating two TAVOR® rifles to be auctioned off at the next “Bullets & Bagels” event to be held Aug. 23, 2015 at the Raahauges Range in Corona, California. Joe Mantegna, best known for playing Special Agent David Rossi in the acclaimed TV show “Criminal Minds” and for portraying Joey Zasa in “The Godfather Part III” will be conducting the auction. Proceeds from the auction will be going to Friends of the IDF, an organization dedicated to supporting the men and women soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces who defend the state of Israel and to the families of fallen IDF soldiers.
As you can imagine, some Middle Eastern media outlets aren’t all that happy about Mr. Mantegna proudly showing his support for Israel.
Hollywood actors have been long supporting Israeli aggression against Palestinians through various means, such as direct fund-raising events or making movies backing Israeli interpretation and catalyzation of the ongoing unrest in the middle-east.
The obvious lunacy of that claim aside, keep crying those bitter tears, Pakistani media. They taste like WINNING!
While researching for my last post, I got curious about whether anyone was also proclaiming that endangered Jewish lives matter. Sure enough.
Jeffrey Salkin of Martini Judaism (“for those who want to be shaken and stirred”), reminds us, speaking of the Iran nuclear deal, that Jewish lives matter, too.
Todd Gitlin writes, reflecting on the Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher murders, that Jewish lives matter — to terrorists, but not so much to the political left who we foolishly expect to defend them.
Evan Traylor of the Jewish Multiracial Network likes Black Lives Matter and says so do those of black Jews.
And another article points out that many black lives are also Jewish lives — but that some Black Lives Matter activists have hijacked the BLM movement by also making it anti-Israel.
Finally, black Zionist Chloe Simone Valdary asserts (in the most nuanced piece I’m linking) that Jewish lives matter, and so do those of Palestinians, including Christians, women, and homosexuals who suffer at the hands of (or with the assent of) Palestinian political leadership.
Judge the value of such articles for yourself (as you will, anyway). Including them here doesn’t mean I endorse or agree with them all. I just thought it was interesting that “Jewish lives matter” was a meme in its own right, and fascinating what a variety of thought has gone into this.
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”. The sentence comes from the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell. The synopsis is pretty good if you are unfamiliar with the book.
So it seems that some groups are allowed to say and do certain things with impunity, while other groups are branded with evil labels very undeservedly. I have a few examples for you.
Remember the “Draw Mohammed” contest in Garland Texas a while back? The event was organized by Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs. She was demonized by all on the left and some on the right. Because she felt in America, we should have free speech. The event was sometime after the Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Casher grocery terrorist attacks by muslims. The Hebdo attack was prompted by a cartoon that appeared in the magazine and the perpetually offended “religion of peace” went on another killing spree. Many criticized Ms. Geller for having such an event. Why bound to cause trouble, no need to stir things up, best to just shut up and not make waves and all, right old sport? Ms. Geller’s point was, if in America, we are no longer free to speak, or have a cartoon drawing contest, we are no longer free. We have already submitted to Sharia law. This story ran on the news for DAYS on end, without stopping.
Now let’s just compare that to how the mainstream media went on for DAYS on end about a muslim professor at Lincoln University in Philadelphia. Just kidding about it running on the news for days on end </snark>
The Pakistani Professor Kaukab Siddique has made the statement “calling Pamela Geller and like-minded anti-Muslim commentators “dirty Jewish Zionist thugs.” Okayyyy, and if Pamela Geller would have called Kaukab Siddique a dirty muslim thug? But she didn’t, and as it turns out in addition to receiving his paycheck from taxpayer dollars, some of which no doubt are Jewish he also has the lamestream media to fly cover for him. As a state related university Lincoln receives about 13 million dollars in state funds. Wow, so 13 million contributes towards a professor who teaches that the holocaust didn’t exist. From Atlas Shrugs
Of course he won’t retract. Such ideological rhetoric and hatred has been normed by a sharia-adhering culture, and most particularly by academia. Islamic Jew-hatred goes under the guise of “palestinianism,” when it is actually nazism.
The author of the article, Susan Snyder, validates this vile professor’s hatred when she describes me as “anti-Muslim.” I am anti-jihad. But if she described me that way, people would think, “what’s wrong with that”? Snyder goes on to use the radical, fringe Southern Poverty Law Center to further smear me. Mind you, this is an article about a Muslim professor at an American university calling Jews, and me in particular, “dirty Jewish Zionist thugs.” And Snyder works hard to norm this depravity. She did not, of course, bother to contact me for comment.
In calling our free speech event in Garland, Texas “cultural genocide,” Professor Siddique reveals how truly insidious his agenda really is. Standing for free speech against violent intimidation is “cultural genocide”? Snyder passes on this ridiculous claim without remarking upon it. What Siddique is saying is that violating Islam’s blasphemy laws is tantamount to mass murder — and the only alternative is that we submit and accept those blasphemy laws.
It’s really cute how budding “reporter” little Susie Snyder uses the Southern Poverty Law Center as a credible source. Sort of like a local parrot cage liner around here used the Violence Policy Center as a reliable source of un-biased information on guns. I know, sometimes they can’t help but tell us how ignorant and biased they are when they used sources like that and then claim they are unbiased.
So cartoon contest=evil, must not speak or draw of such things.
Calling Jews and their supporters “Dirty Jewish Thugs”=free speech that must be protected and supported with taxpayer money.
Wow, really?
So, while we are on the topic of culture, there is a Jewish American reggae singer named Matisyahu.
It seems Matisyahu was scheduled to preform in Spain at the Rototom Sunsplash festival. But then the radical BDS movement got involved. They demanded that the singer produce a compelling document or video that he supported the two state “solution”. They accused Matisyahu and Israel of supporting “an apartheid state which practices ethnic-cleansing,”. So the organizers in a effort to placate the tolerant freedom loving and supporting BDS movement caved and pressured Matisyahu, who didn’t cave.
“The festival organizers contacted me because they were getting pressure from the BDS movement. They wanted me to write a letter, or make a video, stating my positions on Zionism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to pacify the BDS people,” wrote Matisyahu.
“I support peace and compassion for all people. My music speaks for itself, and I do not insert politics into my music,” he continued. “Music has the power to transcend the intellect, ideas, and politics, and it can unite people in the process.”
“The festival kept insisting that I clarify my personal views; which felt like clear pressure to agree with the BDS political agenda. Honestly it was appalling and offensive, that as the one publicly Jewish-American artist scheduled for the festival they were trying to coerce me into political statements,” wrote Matisyahu.
“Were any of the other artists scheduled to perform asked to make political statements in order to perform? No artist deserves to be put in such a situation simply to perform his or her art. Regardless of race, creed, country, cultural background, etc, my goal is to play music for all people. As musicians that is what we seek,” he concluded.
The answer is no. No other artists were pressured into making political statements that more than likely they didn’t agree with. Certainly another shining example of how freedom of speech (if you are Jewish or Israel supporter anyway) doesn’t go both ways.
It takes courage to continue to fight for her right to speak out, or draw cartoons and Pamela does continue to speak out. It takes courage for Matisyahu not to cave to the pressure to make a statement he may or not agree with. The fact that he was the only artist pressured to do so is very telling.
So while some can say and do as they please with media support, some can not. Some animals really are more equal than others aren’t they?
In June I wrote about an informative and new anti-BDS site called Canary Mission. Their mission is to reveal just who the actors in this movement really are and what they truly espouse, often with their own words.
Well, the BDS crowd is not happy about Canary Mission. Not. At. All.
In a new article from award winning investigative reporter and author Edwin Black, he notes an increasing level of shrill and violent threats against Canary Mission. Well worth reading in it’s entirety.
And, if you have not yet done so, do please check out Canary Mission’s site, too! A valuable resource.
So barry and kerry are very busy patting themselves on the back for their “historic” agreement reached with Iran. It’s a really great deal. For Iran. As for the US, we have now taken sides in the Sunni vs Shia middle east face off. I have heard more than one comparison to the 1938 Munich agreement signed by that waste of oxygen Neville Chamberpot, oops, Chamberlain. And appeasing tyrants has always worked out so well. The sanctions against Iran will be lifted (ok, so I like the photo), the ketchup tycoon has backed off the anywhere anytime inspections they touted, and basically we get nothing. Not even the four prisoners being held by Iran. They didn’t even come up. Pity, it would have given ketchup, er kerry, one more thing to cave on. Even some of the other muslim countries don’t like the deal. Our allies no longer trust us, no one need worry about the obama regime attacking them (unless it’s conservatives).
But at least before this disastrous deal giving the country which has vowed to destroy the US and Israel, nuclear power is final, it will have to go through the US congress. Well, no.
Turns out barry and kerry decided to submit the agreement to the United Nations BEFORE it could go through congress. Which prompted sputtering and outrage from those invaluable protectors of the American people, like the carpet wetting John Boehner. They whined that congress would continue to do their job no matter that the “agreement”had been submitted to the UN. What I wonder, is it that congress thinks they will do? It seems barry and kerry think it’s more important that the agreement go to the U.N. because it affects other countries. Hmmm, okaaayyy, if that’s how it works, let’s be consistent.
It seems on the 16th of July this year the Israeli Sanhedrin called barry to appear in front of the court on the 9th of September for for what it says are “criminal offenses” against the Jewish people following the passage of the Iran nuclear deal. The Sanhedrin accuses Obama of “deliberately promoting genocide for the Jewish people.” Well, and the American citizens too. Link is well worth checking, it has the documents. That was even before the Sanhedrin found out that barry and kerry gave Iran the technology to make sure Israel couldn’t take out their nuclear facilities.
Ok, well, if we go by ketchup kerry’s reasoning for bypassing congress on the nuclear agreement,
“Well, they have a right to do that, honestly. It is presumptuous of some people to say that France, Russia, China, Germany, Britain ought to do what the Congress tells them to do,” said Kerry. “They have a right to have a vote. But we prevailed on them to delay the implementation of that vote out of respect of our Congress.”
The nuclear agreement with The Islamic state of Iran will certainly effect Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and pretty much every other country since who knows what the crazies will do. If we are going to yield American sovereignty to the U.N. over the nuclear deal, shouldn’t we yield the American President and maybe even throw in the Secretary of State to be turned over to the Sanhedrin?
You know, I’m concerned about the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty that barry had kerry sign. Since this regime rules by executive action, and executive order, why should we think that in their opinion that two-thirds of the Senate needs to approve it? I mean, it affects other countries as well. Congress may well stomp it’s fancy shoes, but I don’t really expect them to do anymore about that than they will this bypass.
It seems barry and kerry are very invested in making sure that Begin’s daring raid can not be repeated.
Co-blogger Sheila has been telling you about the highlights of her recent trip to Israel. One thing she hasn’t told you is this:
That’s a closeup of one of the niches in the Western Wall or Kotel — what Americans not-so-respectfully refer to as the Wailing Wall. The slip of paper on the upper right contains the names of each TZP founding member and blogger, the names of our families, and TZP’s name.
I was so moved when Sheila told us she did that. A famous quote connected with the Western Wall is: “There are hearts and there are hearts. There are human hearts, and there are hearts of stone. There are stones and there are stones. There are silent stones, and there are stones which are hearts.” And I must say that what Sheila did melted my sometimes-stony heart.
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Life has taught me to be cynical and unsentimental. Aside from having a soft spot for dogs, I tend to be one who avoids or questions things I find to be vague, “soft,” or emotional. I’ve become a “just the facts, Ma’am” sort of person when it comes to claims that can’t be well-defined or proven through a rigorous examination.
Reading novels, I skip the mushy scenes. I’m baffled when people make religious arguments based on their feelings and quotes from scriptures (just as they’re baffled by my expectation of hard evidence). When a salesman or a preacher wants me to “experience” something before I gather the data about it, I’m instantly on guard. When Dumbledore tells Harry Potter that “love” made his baby self invincible against the evil power of Voldemort, I cringe and hit the fast-forward button. In fact, the dreadfully overused word “love” is in general enough to set my BS alarm clanging. Give me the facts, Ma’am. Just the facts.
I’m not really that cold — I hope! I’ve merely learned through a lifetime of experience that feelings sans facts are often a trap, nothing more than a form of manipulation and deception.
Our gun-hating opponents are excruciating examples of this. Their wild emotional rantings, their claims of sentiment toward the victims of shootings (victims in whose blood they gleefully dance), their stubborn choice to remain ignorant about firearms, their complete refusal to sit down and think about how the laws they demand would actually work in the real world, their bizarre lack of reasoning … all are perfect examples of why feeeeeelings should aways be suspect. Especially when someone uses their emotions (or tries to manipulate the emotions of others) as an excuse to get something they want.
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Of course, feelings can be plenty useful. That hinky sense you get when you see a suspicious stranger or enter a dangerous place. That inner voice that screams, “NO!” even when a course of action seems otherwise perfectly reasonable. That warmth that floods you when you realize you’ve met someone you can truly trust. That rush of satisfaction when you know you’ve gone the extra mile and done good. All great, all needed.
But when it comes to discovering truths that lie beyond our immediate realm, feelings are no substitute for accurate, checkable data. Give me the facts, Ma’am. Just the facts. I’ll decide for myself what to feel about them, thank you.
So when I saw Sheila’s photo and heard her describe what’s on that piece of paper — a prayer placed in an ancient wall for the people of TZP — at first I didn’t know why I felt so moved. I don’t believe there’s a god standing behind that wall, seeing, hearing, and above all caring about us (fellow blogger Y.B. will differ, of course). I don’t believe that the stones of the wall or the words on those slips of paper have any mystical power. Yet I felt a power just knowing what Sheila had done. I felt the power of the stones and the words and Sheila’s action in placing TZP in such an ancient holy place.
But why?
Many reasons, I think. But here’s the core thing: We who hold fast for gun rights and the human rights to life, liberty, and individual sovereignty ultimately do what we do out of love. Yes, that mushy, highly suspect word. There it is: love.
Oh yes, we have facts and data and knowledge on our side. Unlike the overwrought, screeching enemies of freedom, we analyze the data, we look at the facts on the table, we project the consequences of proposed laws into the future. We ask, “How does this work? Or would it work?” Some of us know the physics (that is, the facts) of the making of steel or the ballistics of a shot. Some of us have studied the history of firearms or firearms laws. Some of us can cite firearm statistics or crime statistics off the tops of our heads. Some track and analyze upcoming laws or regulatory actions. We have different areas of expertise when it comes to guns and gun rights. But generally, we tend to be people of the fact. We’re passionate about our commitment, but many of us got here by looking at the data or studying the history and knowing why we’re here.
Yet of course we don’t do what we do — we don’t join and stay in this endless struggle for freedom — because of facts alone. That wouldn’t be enough.
We stand here against all manner of hate and all attempts to smash our freedom. We stand like the stones of that ancient wall not only because we know we’re right. Being “right” is never enough; any moron can think he’s “right” about anything and still run for the hills the moment things get tough. We stand because we love life and liberty so much that surrender is inconceivable. What we do, we do for love.
It has been said of the Western Wall:
Secure and invincible with its Divine strength, the Kotel holds its own — throughout the generations of change, transformations and vicissitudes, the horrors and the shocks, which visited the land and its inhabitants. The Kotel is in them and with them.
…. [L]ike a stone fortress, it stands guard, without moving and without allowing its inner dignity to be sullied. It remains pure and exalted in the strength of its very essence…
There are hearts of stone and stones with hearts. Those who stand for gun rights are a wall, a fortress. It was right that Sheila placed TZP names in that niche in the Kotel. The words on that slip of paper aren’t just our names, individually. Our names stand for everyone who cares unyieldingly about self defense, the defense of others, and the undying principles of liberty. Our names in that wall stand for the love that holds so many great hearts so strong in this crucial cause.
The next museum I will share with you is the HaHaganah museum in Tel Aviv. It was originally the meeting place of HaHaganah, because the building where the museum resides is the former home of Eliyahu Golomb, one of the founders of HaHaganah. Many an important meeting took place there. The topics would have ranged from how to get more Jewish refugees into Israel to defense of the settlements. The meetings held in the house were secret and they would have been conducted from1930-1945. In 1954 the building was sold to an entrepreneur and plans were made to demolish the building. Former members of the Haganah found out and intervened. They wanted the irreplaceable house built in 1923 turned into a museum. Said entrepreneur agreed. I guess anyone would. Who wants to argue with a bunch of ticked off Haganah. I suppose the owner didn’t want to mess with them. They got their museum.
HaHaganah Museum
HaHaganah was the evolution of Jewish Defense forces. The first group formed was Bar-Giora, named for Simon Bar Giora one of the leaders of the revolt against Rome. Meeting for the first time on September 28, 1907 in Ytizhak Ben-|Zvi’s apartment they set their goal. It was settle the land and guard it from Arabs. Their motto was
“In fire and blood did Judea fall; in blood and fire Judea shall rise.”
This was also one of the mottoes of Jewish defenders during the Russian pogroms. Members had to have a years worth of farming experience as well to be in the Bar-Giora.
The Bar-Giora became the HaShomer in April 1909. HaShomer meant the Watchman. The HaShomer was larger and more organized than the Bar-Giora. The HaShomer set it’s goal to provide organized defense for all of the Jews living in “Palestine”. One of the first challenges they faced was lack of weapons, due to lack of the necessary funds. They finally obtained a loan & the necessary weapons were purchased and distributed. Many of the new owners refused to be separated from their new weapons even for a moment. They soon adopted the dress and customs of the local Bedouins, Druze and Circassians. As well as advancing from being units on foot to horseback. This is always a good thing to my way of thinking. Another challenge the HaShomer faced was shortage of ammunition. It was expensive and hard to procure. This led to secret production centers being set up. The HaShomer were quite effective in their duties, despite the fact at no time was there ever more than 100 members. In 1920 the HaShomer were disbanded to become HaHaganah. Just a quick note here, some people at work asked my opinion on a “Hosmer”. I had no idea what they were talking about. Travel broadens your knowledge base. I now know they probably wanted to know what I thought about the HaShomer! I think they were amazing!
HaShomer
In June 1920 HaHaganah (The Defense) came into being. Initially a loose group, the Arab riots of 1929 changed it’s nature. It changed from a militia to a mature military body. HaHaganah was independent of paying locals to be watchmen nor did they depend on foreign recognition. Though the British Security Forces did work with it to form a civilian militia. The British were mostly pro-Arab and anti-Zionist. At times they urged the Arabs to attack the Jewish settlers. The Arabs soon discovered they could control the immigration policies of the British by rioting. At times the British would work with the Arabs. The Arabs would riot and the British would withdraw their troops & the Jewish police leaving the Jews at the tender mercies of the rioting Arabs. There were many incidences where the casualty rate would have been much, much higher if not for HaHaganah. The British, in general, were proving to be about as good a friends to the new yishuv settlers as they were to the Irish about that time frame.
But even the British get a surprise once in a while. Charles Orde Wingate was just such a surprise. Wingate was born to a religious Christian family & firmly believed in the Bible. Therefore he also firmly believed that the Jewish people belonged in Israel, and he did everything possible to make that happen. He was a talented horseman, who had also studied Arabic and Semitic culture. In 1936 he earned the rank of Captain and the intelligence officer was transferred to Israel later that year.
When he arrived the Arabs were regularly attacking the British & the Jews. Wingate sized up the situation and formed S.N.S. or special night squads comprised mostly of HaHaganah. The were effective as offensive units as well as defensive. They could pre-empt as well as resist attacks and were very effective at helping the yishuv settlers. Therefore the S.N.S. was disliked by Arabs & British. The Yishuv called him “ha-yedid” The friend. Bet he was glad he had learned to speak Hebrew then! For Charles Orde Wingate it was first, last and always about the Jews belonging in Israel and being safe there. He was the perfect man, in the perfect place at the perfect time. Therefore in 1939 the Brits transferred him out. His passport was stamped with a restriction that he was not allowed to re-enter the country. You can’t make this stuff up. His influence lived on though in the people he had trained that went on to become heads of Palmach and later the IDF.
One heart wrenching incident that HaHaganah was unable to stop was the helpless settlers in the Hebron Massacre. The HaHaganah had gone to Hebron to offer their protection, but since the local Sephardic Jews had lived in peace with their Arabic neighbors for years they were concerned that the presence of HaHaganah could irritate the situation. The Haganah were sent away by the ONE British Policeman who had been recruited from the Black & Tans. The terror didn’t end even after they made it to The Beit Romano police station. The level of trust in the British to protect them, and the Arabs not to attack them was way too high, and the cost was very dear. There were stories of Arabs that acted to save the Jews, hiding them in their basements and cellars and defending them with their swords.
When the new settlers wanted to fight back, they had another conundrum. They were facing the bigger and well armed British army and their buddies with whom they also shared arms, The Arab Legion. One of the answers was the Davidka. Not an incredibly accurate weapon, it was loud and tended to scare the heck out of it’s targets.
Yes, a real DavidkaDavidka Plaque
Yes indeed! That is a real Davidka!
On May 26th 1948 David Ben-Gurion dissolved HaHaganah, and the other defensive groups to form the IDF.
Take away thoughts from HaHaganah museum: If you are going to trust your life and that of your family to someone, make VERY sure they are worthy it. Some mistakes can not be made up.
If you are going to defend yourself against a government that has no interest in your survival and is siding with your enemies? Weapons, effective weapons and lots of them are a must.
There may be people that were not born of your group that will fight harder for your group than some natural born members. Charles Orde Wingate was just such an incredible man, a G-d given gift to Israel and her new settlers.
Availability of weapons and ammunition is critical.
The cost of re-inventing the wheel would be even more astronomical this time. We don’t need to do that. Attitudes are a big key in survival.
One of the museums we visited was the Etzel museum in Tel Aviv. That monthly pass really is a good deal. I still have a couple days left on it, I keep contemplating popping back over there to just add a bit to my story, but I guess I won’t. There is more than one Etzel museum in Tel Aviv and this one was named for Amichai (Gidi) Paiglin.
This is one of those things that at the time seemed like a good idea, and seemed like it would be simple. I’d just make a few notes on the people and topics that really struck me and I wanted to share with our readers and then supplement with info from the net and put in a few links. That’s not how this turned out. What seemed to me, like something that would certainly have a page on Wikipedia, or I could find information “somewhere” on the web, there is nothing but a barren wasteland of info. At least for my first part, which is going to have to be done only from my notes and memory. Which at times is a barren wasteland in and of itself.
Ten days before the State of Israel was declared by David Ben-Gurion (whom I like less all the time) was the last day of a truce. The British were going to be pulling out, and The Irgun had decided to capture Jaffa. The battle had been pretty fierce and there were a many lives lost. In the area of of town where our story takes place the Irgun thought that they had an area where it would be safe for the women to bed down for the night, and that by the next morning they would finish the operation. That probably seemed like a good idea at the time as well. It didn’t work out the way it was planned either. The Arabs managed to sneak past the Etzal during the night and were in the parts of the town where most of the women were.
Marion Aharoni was one of the two women in the minaret who woke up to the sound of Arabic voices the next morning and realized that there were enough of them that the forces in that part of the town wouldn’t be able to hold it. Apparently communications had already been disrupted, and so Marion told the other gal to try to get to headquarters and advise them of the situation. In the meantime headquarters had become aware of what was happening and was trying to sort out their resources and their people to figure out how to best deal with the situation at hand. One of the people in charge of a unit was Ruth Moritz, I believe I have her code name down as Dvora. Ruth was amazing, she was a beautiful woman, I think, and had shown a lot of command skill. Her boyfriend Avaham Canaaite had been killed at the battle of Yafo (Jaffa). Ruth was near headquarters when the other lady finally arrived and informed them of the situation. Headquarters informed Ruth they had talked to their people in that area and no one was left in the minaret. Ruth said she was going to head over there anyway to make sure Marion got out. Headquarters told her no. Ruth said she was going and for everyone else who had legs to get out of there now. Headquarters advised Ruth she should go see to her unit and make sure they were all ready to roll, either evacuate or fight. Ruth told them she would just go check the minaret herself and make sure no one was left behind to face the Arab mob alone. And so she went. If she met fighters along the way, she advised them to get out. She made it to the minaret where Marion was still holed up waiting for orders. Not that there was a thing she could have done. By the time Ruth made it there the Arab mobs were very close. And there were a lot of them. And so to avoid falling into the hands of the Arab mobs they chose to jump from the minaret. Many Arabs at that time, as now, have the same unfortunate goal and tendency to slaughter Jews when possible. No one really knew what happened to the women. After two years a mass grave was found with the bones of two women and three men. I believe it was four years later that they finally found out what had happened.
Another update: We knew Ruth had incredible courage to go back and try to get out Marion who was in her company because she felt she was responsible for Marion. But something that is in the video that I had forgotten is Marion’s incredible courage. Marion was still in that tower because she had not heard the command to retreat. She heard the Arab mobs, she knew they were close. But she stayed and held her position because she had not heard the retreat command. What kind of incredible courage would that take? These were two amazing, smart, strong, courageous women. They deserve to have their names known and remembered outside of Israel.
The view of the minaret I think they jumped from was visible from my “office”.
View from my “office”
And the evening we walked home from Yafo to Tel Aviv we walked by what I believe is the tower they jumped from.
The minaret
The other thing that was striking to me was the Altalena. Yes, of course I knew about the Altalena, the ship. I did not know that was the name Ze’ev Jabotinsky wrote under in Russian newspapers though. The other thing was the date. I was at this Etzel museum on 1 June. 1 June 1948 was the day the Irgun, Hagana, and Lehi were all to have been disbanded and incorporated into the newly formed IDF. The cliff notes version of this is the Altalena was a ship bound for Israel carrying fighters and much needed weapons to the Irgun. Timing was an issue, and David Ben-Gurion, was aware the ship was coming in and basically sold the Irgun and Menachem Begin out. The IDF was ordered to attack the Altalena if they wouldn’t turn over all the weapons to the new IDF. That did not happen, and a firefight broke out between the IDF and the Irgun. Menachem Begin headed for the Altalena in a rowboat under fire from the IDF. He made it to the ship and they sailed for Tel Aviv where there were more IDF forces. Ben-Gurion ordered the ship sunk on the high seas by the new Israeli air force before it reached Tel Aviv.
Heiman Shamir Deputy Commander of the Air Force, tried to convince non-Jewish pilot volunteers to attack the ship. However, three pilots refused to participate in the mission, one of them saying, “You can kiss my foot. I did not lose four friends and fly 10,000 miles in order to bomb Jews.”
I told a Rabbi once, not everything that wasn’t born Jewish is an enemy of Jews. These three pilots would nicely prove this point.
In the end, Jews fired on Jews, and the Altalena was sunk despite having raised a white flag on Begin’s orders as he attempted to prevent a civil war.
Take-a-way thoughts of mine. We know the name of the shooter in the church in South Carolina, we know the name of several famous gangsters in America’s history, and possibly some names of famous Israelis. Certainly Ben-Gurion and Begin. While I was at the museum some groups of young soldiers were coming through. They were to study at the museum as part of the class apparently. In fact one room we were unable to access. It was a room where perhaps there was a movie you could view, but it was being used for a party of some sort. But these student soldiers study the people, the events and the history. And it matters to some of them, and perhaps to some, not so much. I was actually very surprised there was nothing on the net about Ruth Moritz and Marion Aharoni, but there isn’t, and so perhaps this telling, as imperfect as it is, will keep a memory of valor, courage and leadership alive.
Ruth Moritz and Marion Aharoni
And make no mistake, Ruth was a leader. When we have people like Shannon Watts, Dianne Feinstine, Nancy Pelosi and every other anti-gun harpie out there telling women that they won’t be safer if they can defend themselves, you know what crap it is. When you have the screeching harpies telling women that if they have a gun someone will take it away from them and use it on them, that’s crap. When you have the faux feminists telling women that a gun is too complicated, that they should get mace and a whistle, you know it’s crap. When the faux feminists tell women to just call the big strong policeman and wait, that’s crap. Ruth and Marion were true feminists, they were strong, beautiful women that fought in defense of themselves, their families and their country.
Right now part of America is busy throwing away the heritage that they have been sold by a liberal educational system and biased media. They throw it away with both hands because they don’t know true history, and don’t understand what they are throwing away. I was very glad to see those young Israelis going through that museum.
When in a dire situation, more people on your side is a very good thing.
The Altalena take-a-way? Politicians do what’s best for politicians. Betrayal sadly, apparently, should be expected. It’s about the power baby, it’s about the power.
Etzel Museum
I have never been so happy to need to update something as I am to add this. If you whine to the right people, sometimes, just sometimes, really great things happen. The whining was about the lack of information on Ruth online. The victim listener of my whining suggested that some problems are solved by going back to the language in which the incident occurred. That would be Hebrew. JACKPOT!!!
I had forgotten that Marion was in Ruth’s unit. A bit more than friends, I believe Ruth was her leader.
These sites are all in Hebrew, but with evil google’s translate you can read a rough version in English. Enough to get more information. AND, a movie. I’ve written the museum to see if they would consider posting the English version I saw while I was there.
Who are these “Stiff-Necked” people, just freed from hundreds of years of enslavement under the Pharaohs of Egypt?
How did they end up there?
Why are they now free; granted the escape of millions of people from the absolute control of a regional superpower?
Why are these ragged and debased people given protection, guidance, and even nourishment through a series of dramatic and unrelenting miraculous interventions? All lead by a convicted murder who, after years on the lam in the desert, returns as their spiritual and physical shepherd?
Why?
The Israelites had lived in their tribal lands in what is now most of modern Israel, and adjacent portions of today’s Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, since a very unusual man and his wife traveled all the way from Ur Kasdim, in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates, through mountains and deserts, to purchase and settle their family and make a home.
This man, Abraham, rebellious son of an idol maker, challenged all the prevailing beliefs of the time, asserting that all of the universe was from the act of, and under the absolute dominion of, but ONE, unique, all encompassing, incorporeal, limitless, G-d.
This man, Abraham, was directly communicated to by this G-d, first, while being raised hidden in a cave, as a young child, and many times thereafter.
Abraham was a descendant of Shem; the youngest son of Noah a witness to the Great Flood, and the Covenant renewed at its end
Shems’s grandson, Eber, unique among his siblings, refused to participate in the construction of the Tower of Babel, and thus he retained not only what he learned from Shem, but the original language in which he was taught. This language is Ivrit, what we call in English, Hebrew.
Abraham was the great-great-great-grandson of Eber.
Eleven generations of this family in all had been taught by Shem, before he died. From Shem, via Eber, through Abraham, all the way to Jacob.
Abraham and his wife Sarah braved many challenges, and yet prospered. Together they developed a reputation among the great and small alike for intelligence, morality, and gracious hospitality to all who sought out their tents. Abraham and Sarah recognized that all mankind’s blessings, indeed all of existence, came from G-d.
So, when challenged by G-d with a terrifying, soul-wrenching test; to sacrifice his adult son, Isaac, to this same G-d, both father and son were nonetheless willing. At the last moment, Heaven stayed Abraham’s hand.
Abraham and Issac Rembrandt van Rijn, 1634
This event, known as the Akedah, established an eternal promise, from G-d himself, to Abraham, Isaac and (through Jacob) their descendants to have title to this good land forever. So long as they loved G-d, and followed his guidance, they would multiply and prosper. A nation of priests; witness to the World that Hashem is G-d and He is “One”.
Indeed, through Isaac and his children, and their children, and their children, the message, devotion to G-d, and their promised prosperity was solidified. So was the unquestioned title to their land. Their HOME. The People of Israel dwelt in the Land of Israel.
Thus it was, that, facing a terrible drought, the children of Jacob; now known as Israel, sought permission of their neighbor, the Pharaoh of Egypt, to feed and water their livestock ,to sojourn, in the outlying fields of Goshen, on the Nile Delta, only a few days walk from their home, TEMPORARILY.
Next: Seduction, Debasement, and Slavery on the Nile
The attack in South Carolina was the latest in a series of horrors that have occurred in Gun Free Zones. And the roaches have been scurrying out of the woodwork. To no one’s great surprise Hillary said she still hates law abiding citizens and can’t wait to see them dead. Well, sort of, she might have phrased it more like a politician, but that’s the essence of it. Barry of course has been saying that for years. His name IS still barry this week, right?
But to the subject at hand. It has come out that the alleged killer (Lt. Col. Grossman says we do not use mass murders names, the name can fade to oblivion) chose the church because it was a gun free zone and didn’t have security. Like other mass killers, some of them elected politicians, they wants disarmed victims.
But the reporting on the incident is interesting. Actually reporting, chuckle, chuckle, is interesting. When the police HQ in Dallas were attacked a CNN anchor called it “brave”. Why yes, that is the same CNN that has been caught using footage of fully automatic weapons being fired while reporting on a story about semi-automatic weapons. More than once.
Then we have a guest on MSNBC who stated that had anyone there been able to defend themselves it would have been amazing if even three people had been left alive. Seriously. Disarmed, defenseless (now dead) people are safer. I’m sure MSNBC’s 11 viewers nodded along sagely.
So where did you hear that? If it was on CNN, or MSNBC (in case of it’s 11 viewers stumbled onto our site) you might mull over the view point with which it’s being reported. CNN thinks it’s brave to attack police and MSNBC thinks if you can defend yourself and have a chance to fight to live you are less safe. Which is probably why I’ve heard talk show host Mark Levin call them MSLSD. At least hamass is more honest in this case. They hate Israel and are happy to see innocent defenseless people slaughtered. What does that say about the mainstream news media. Seriously, if they can’t even report a news story that has already happened, why would you trust them with a weather forecast?
As a side note, the South Carolina shooter had a view on Jews as well.
Unlike many White nationalists, I am of the opinion that the majority of American and European Jews are White. In my opinion the issue with the Jews is not their blood, but their identity. I think that if we somehow could destroy the Jewish identity, then they wouldnt [sic] cause much of a problem. The problem is that Jews look White, and in many cases are White, yet they see themselves as minorities. Just like niggers [sic], most jews [sic] are always thinking about the fact they are jewish [sic]. The other issue is that they network. If we could somehow turn every jew [sic] blue for 24 hours, I think there would be a mass awakening, because people would be able to see plainly what is going on.
I do not pretend to understand why jews [sic] do what they do. They are enigma [sic].
Yes indeedy. That pesky Jewish identity…..must erase that pesky Jewish identity. Got news you piece of pond scum fish excrement, others have tried, others will try, others are trying now. Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League is not the answer. The old sticks and stones thing. Armed Synagogues, armed Churches now we are talking answers. There is one higher and greater that I believe will have something to say about erasing the Jewish identity.
Thank you Y.B. Love this one!
Jews. Guns. No compromise. No surrender.
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